Safest towns in East of England

Towns in East of England ranked from the lowest recorded crime rate, the 12 months to July 2026.

About this ranking

Ranked by crime per 1,000 residents over the 12 months to July 2026. The England and Wales rate was 96.4; the index column compares each area with it (1.00 = national rate). Rates for city and town centres are inflated by visitors and commuters, who are not counted in the resident population.

Rank	Area	In	Crimes	Per 1,000	Index
1	Kesgrave	East Suffolk	374	23.4	0.24
2	Taverham and Drayton	Broadland	406	25.9	0.27
3	Ashingdon	Rochford	171	26.7	0.28
4	Long Stratton	South Norfolk	181	29.6	0.31
5	Hockley and Hawkwell	Rochford	504	31.6	0.33
6	Moor Park	Three Rivers	189	32.7	0.34
7	Horsford	Broadland	208	33.4	0.35
8	Wootton (Bedford)	Bedford	290	34.7	0.36
9	Great Shelford and Stapleford	South Cambridgeshire	238	35.5	0.37
10	Poringland	South Norfolk	254	36.2	0.38
11	Chorleywood	Three Rivers	522	36.5	0.38
12	Ampthill	Central Bedfordshire	346	37.3	0.39
13	Barton-le-Clay	Central Bedfordshire	188	37.4	0.39
14	Harpenden	St Albans	1,123	38.9	0.40
15	Lawford	Tendring	200	39.0	0.41
16	Red Lodge	West Suffolk	292	41.0	0.43
17	Cranfield	Central Bedfordshire	359	41.1	0.43
18	Sawston	South Cambridgeshire	314	41.9	0.43
19	Great Notley	Braintree	332	42.6	0.44
20	Woodbridge	East Suffolk	412	43.1	0.45
21	Hullbridge	Rochford	238	43.7	0.45
22	Beck Row	West Suffolk	227	44.1	0.46
23	Brundall	Broadland	240	44.3	0.46
24	Saffron Walden	Uttlesford	706	44.9	0.47
25	Chiswell Green	St Albans	270	45.1	0.47
26	Danbury	Chelmsford	306	45.6	0.47
27	Kelvedon and Feering	Braintree	261	45.6	0.47
28	Aylsham	Broadland	339	45.8	0.47
29	Tiptree	Colchester	389	46.6	0.48
30	West Mersea	Colchester	335	46.8	0.49
31	Harleston	South Norfolk	249	46.9	0.49
32	Flitwick	Central Bedfordshire	547	47.9	0.50
33	Billericay	Basildon	1,629	48.1	0.50
34	Stotfold	Central Bedfordshire	660	48.2	0.50
35	Burwell	East Cambridgeshire	313	48.2	0.50
36	Lakenheath	West Suffolk	244	48.2	0.50
37	Hadleigh	Babergh	446	48.4	0.50
38	Thundersley and South Benfleet	Castle Point	2,375	48.7	0.50
39	Brightlingsea	Tendring	439	49.1	0.51
40	Wivenhoe	Colchester	328	49.2	0.51
41	South Woodham Ferrers	Chelmsford	785	49.5	0.51
42	Warboys	Huntingdonshire	263	49.5	0.51
43	Southminster	Maldon	250	50.0	0.52
44	Attleborough	Breckland	575	50.8	0.53
45	Great Wakering	Rochford	366	51.4	0.53
46	Royston (North Hertfordshire)	North Hertfordshire	828	51.5	0.53
47	Caister-on-Sea	Great Yarmouth	448	52.1	0.54
48	Marston Moretaine	Central Bedfordshire	295	52.3	0.54
49	Waterbeach	South Cambridgeshire	301	52.5	0.54
50	Hethersett	South Norfolk	426	53.0	0.55
51	Bovingdon	Dacorum	325	53.7	0.56
52	Brampton (Huntingdonshire)	Huntingdonshire	399	53.8	0.56
53	Sawbridgeworth	East Hertfordshire	630	53.8	0.56
54	Rayleigh	Rochford	1,811	54.3	0.56
55	Bradwell (Great Yarmouth)	Great Yarmouth	670	55.0	0.57
56	Bungay	East Suffolk	285	55.0	0.57
57	Felixstowe	East Suffolk	1,389	55.4	0.58
58	Sheringham	North Norfolk	378	55.5	0.58
59	Buckhurst Hill	Epping Forest	668	55.8	0.58
60	Doddington and Wimblington	Fenland	282	56.2	0.58
61	Tring	Dacorum	737	56.5	0.59
62	Burnham-on-Crouch	Maldon	556	56.6	0.59
63	Cambourne	South Cambridgeshire	622	56.9	0.59
64	Berkhamsted	Dacorum	1,258	57.0	0.59
65	Watton	Breckland	758	57.0	0.59
66	Halstead (Braintree)	Braintree	912	57.4	0.60
67	Arlesey	Central Bedfordshire	366	57.5	0.60
68	Bricket Wood	St Albans	307	57.6	0.60
69	Radlett	Hertsmere	470	57.6	0.60
70	Soham	East Cambridgeshire	709	58.5	0.61
71	Halesworth	East Suffolk	300	58.8	0.61
72	Frinton-on-Sea	Tendring	312	59.0	0.61
73	Sawtry	Huntingdonshire	433	59.1	0.61
74	Writtle	Chelmsford	318	59.4	0.62
75	Downham Market	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	687	60.7	0.63
76	Cringleford	South Norfolk	362	60.8	0.63
77	Godmanchester	Huntingdonshire	562	61.7	0.64
78	Cottenham	South Cambridgeshire	455	62.1	0.64
79	Leighton Buzzard	Central Bedfordshire	2,839	63.0	0.65
80	Stowmarket	Mid Suffolk	1,390	63.3	0.66
81	Beccles	East Suffolk	652	63.5	0.66
82	Great Dunmow	Uttlesford	639	63.6	0.66
83	Bushey	Hertsmere	1,825	64.4	0.67
84	Stanford-le-Hope	Thurrock	1,989	64.6	0.67
85	St Ives (Huntingdonshire)	Huntingdonshire	1,129	65.1	0.68
86	Abbots Langley and Kings Langley	Three Rivers	1,082	65.3	0.68
87	Stansted Mountfitchet	Uttlesford	691	65.6	0.68
88	Ware	East Hertfordshire	1,325	65.9	0.68
89	Maldon	Maldon	1,576	66.2	0.69
90	Biggleswade	Central Bedfordshire	1,547	66.2	0.69
91	Wickford	Basildon	1,856	66.3	0.69
92	Chigwell	Epping Forest	842	66.3	0.69
93	Galleywood	Chelmsford	480	67.1	0.70
94	Wixams	Bedford	567	67.4	0.70
95	Buntingford	East Hertfordshire	564	67.4	0.70
96	Hitchin	North Hertfordshire	2,459	67.9	0.70
97	Brandon (West Suffolk)	West Suffolk	666	68.2	0.71
98	Whittlesey	Fenland	1,069	69.7	0.72
99	Leiston	East Suffolk	369	70.8	0.73
100	Shortstown	Bedford	418	70.9	0.74
101	East Tilbury	Thurrock	441	71.1	0.74
102	North Walsham	North Norfolk	822	71.2	0.74
103	Cromer	North Norfolk	538	71.4	0.74
104	Elm and Emneth	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	402	71.9	0.75
105	Dunstable	Central Bedfordshire	2,578	72.0	0.75
106	St Neots	Huntingdonshire	2,378	72.0	0.75
107	Shefford	Central Bedfordshire	607	72.2	0.75
108	Haverhill	West Suffolk	2,011	73.0	0.76
109	Yaxley (Huntingdonshire)	Huntingdonshire	723	73.1	0.76
110	Bar Hill	South Cambridgeshire	373	73.4	0.76
111	Diss	South Norfolk	728	73.5	0.76
112	Wymondham (South Norfolk)	South Norfolk	1,349	74.1	0.77
113	Littleport	East Cambridgeshire	651	74.7	0.77
114	Baldock	North Hertfordshire	805	75.1	0.78
115	Sandy	Central Bedfordshire	806	75.4	0.78
116	Newmarket	West Suffolk	1,549	75.5	0.78
117	Sudbury	Babergh	1,845	76.3	0.79
118	Chatteris	Fenland	854	76.5	0.79
119	Rickmansworth	Three Rivers	1,784	76.7	0.80
120	Runwell	Chelmsford	765	78.5	0.81
121	Bishop's Stortford	East Hertfordshire	3,497	78.8	0.82
122	Witham	Braintree	2,005	79.0	0.82
123	Braintree	Braintree	3,324	79.0	0.82
124	Swaffham	Breckland	601	79.2	0.82
125	Loughton	Epping Forest	2,693	79.5	0.83
126	Dereham	Breckland	1,714	79.5	0.83
127	Bury St Edmunds	West Suffolk	3,524	79.7	0.83
128	Aveley	Thurrock	775	79.7	0.83
129	Histon and Impington	South Cambridgeshire	639	80.3	0.83
130	Mildenhall (West Suffolk)	West Suffolk	732	80.4	0.83
131	Longstanton and Northstowe	South Cambridgeshire	609	80.4	0.83
132	Ely	East Cambridgeshire	1,640	80.7	0.84
133	Canvey Island	Castle Point	3,155	81.8	0.85
134	Purfleet-on-Thames	Thurrock	453	82.2	0.85
135	Brentwood	Brentwood	4,853	82.6	0.86
136	Hertford	East Hertfordshire	2,590	83.6	0.87
137	South Ockendon	Thurrock	1,956	83.7	0.87
138	Fakenham	North Norfolk	684	83.8	0.87
139	Rochford	Rochford	1,203	84.1	0.87
140	Letchworth	North Hertfordshire	2,841	84.5	0.88
141	St Albans	St Albans	6,326	86.3	0.90
142	Hoddesdon	Broxbourne	3,486	86.8	0.90
143	Gorleston-on-Sea	Great Yarmouth	2,126	89.2	0.93
144	Lowestoft	East Suffolk	6,456	90.4	0.94
145	Berechurch	Colchester	756	91.5	0.95
146	Luton	Luton	22,820	91.7	0.95
147	Houghton Regis	Central Bedfordshire	2,286	91.8	0.95
148	Kempston	Bedford	1,993	93.5	0.97
149	Potters Bar	Hertsmere	2,293	93.7	0.97
150	Epping	Epping Forest	973	95.2	0.99
151	Thetford	Breckland	2,415	95.5	0.99
152	Ipswich	Ipswich	14,420	95.5	0.99
153	Cheshunt	Broxbourne	4,252	95.6	0.99
154	Walton-on-the-Naze	Tendring	669	95.6	0.99
155	Chelmsford	Chelmsford	11,086	97.1	1.01
156	March	Fenland	2,097	97.2	1.01
157	Harwich	Tendring	2,128	98.0	1.02
158	Welwyn Garden City	Welwyn Hatfield	5,028	98.9	1.03
159	Grays	Thurrock	4,549	98.9	1.03
160	Ramsey	Huntingdonshire	552	100.4	1.04
161	Hemel Hempstead	Dacorum	10,245	102.0	1.06
162	Waltham Abbey	Epping Forest	2,095	102.0	1.06
163	Chadwell St Mary	Thurrock	1,118	103.2	1.07
164	Watford (Watford)	Watford	14,210	103.3	1.07
165	Norwich	Norwich	21,032	103.4	1.07
166	Borehamwood	Hertsmere	4,240	104.7	1.09
167	Harlow	Harlow	10,320	107.6	1.12
168	Cambridge (Cambridge)	Cambridge	16,738	109.3	1.13
169	King's Lynn	King's Lynn and West Norfolk	5,565	112.5	1.17
170	Southend-on-Sea	Southend-on-Sea	20,967	113.2	1.17
171	Stevenage	Stevenage	10,799	113.7	1.18
172	Colchester	Colchester	15,738	114.2	1.18
173	Waltham Cross	Broxbourne	1,602	120.3	1.25
174	Basildon	Basildon	14,637	120.8	1.25
175	Bedford	Bedford	12,537	122.3	1.27
176	Huntingdon	Huntingdonshire	3,262	123.2	1.28
177	Clacton-on-Sea	Tendring	6,920	124.5	1.29
178	Hatfield	Welwyn Hatfield	5,469	126.7	1.32
179	Peterborough	Peterborough	26,294	131.8	1.37
180	Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock	Thurrock	2,735	131.9	1.37
181	Wisbech	Fenland	3,391	131.9	1.37
182	Tilbury	Thurrock	2,144	137.8	1.43
183	London Colney	St Albans	1,233	146.7	1.52
184	Jaywick	Tendring	847	159.2	1.65
185	Great Yarmouth	Great Yarmouth	6,778	227.9	2.37
186	Takeley and Little Canfield	Uttlesford	1,651	274.4	2.85

Recorded crime depends on reporting and recording as well as on offending, so small differences between areas should not be over-read. See the methodology.

Safest towns in East of England

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