Crime and Safety in Leigh-on-Sea
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Leigh-on-Sea is among the top 10 safest small towns in Essex, and is the 113rd most dangerous overall out of Essex's 315 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Leigh-on-Sea in 2026 is 42 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to Essex's overall crime rate, coming in 39% lower than the Essex rate of 69 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Leigh-on-Sea is the 221st safest small town, and the 4,147th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In February 2026, Leigh-on-Sea was the worst small town in Essex for burglary, with 14 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.59 per 1,000 daytime population. December 2025 was also a bad month for Leigh-on-Sea residents, when it was again Essex's most dangerous small town for burglary, recording 17 crimes at a rate of 0.72 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Leigh-on-Sea are violence and sexual offences, with 471 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 20. This is 12% higher than 2025's figure of 422 offences and a difference of 2.05 from 2025's crime rate of 18. Leigh-on-Sea's least common crime is robbery, with 5 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 44% from 2025's figure of 9 crimes.
Leigh-on-Sea 2026 Crime Scorecard
Top 10 Safest
Small Towns, Essex
32% lower, regional crime rate
East of England
42% lower, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Leigh-on-Sea is 32% lower than the East of England and 42% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Leigh-on-Sea Crime Rate Over Time
| Leigh-on-Sea | |
| East of England | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Leigh-on-Sea Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Leigh-on-Sea represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.
See How Leigh-on-Sea Compares
You can compare Leigh-on-Sea's crime statistics against any other town, village, or city from across the country. Search for a location's name below to see how they stack up.
Introduction to Leigh-on-Sea's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Leigh-on-Sea up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Leigh-on-Sea's 488 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:
- Within a Five-Minute Walk
- Within a Ten-Minute Walk
- Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk
Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Leigh-on-Sea? CrimeRate Insights reports convert raw numbers into practical insight for any location, from single addresses and postcodes, up to major towns and cities.
Crime rates don’t happen by themselves; they follow people and patterns. Where crowds gather - near pubs and late-night venues, around the station, by supermarkets and forecourts - incidents naturally concentrate.
That doesn’t mean an area is "bad"; it usually means footfall is higher.
Your report explores these factors in a calm, non-judgemental way, putting the numbers in context and helping you spot what’s typical for places like this.
Crime Risk Scores
Leigh-on-Sea • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Leigh-on-Sea has a crime risk score of 371. This is based on analysis of 488 nearby areas within Leigh-on-Sea, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Leigh-on-Sea's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Leigh-on-Sea, crime risk scores are typically around 371, while in Essex they are average 496.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 448 (502 for Essex), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 528 (Essex 509).
Trends in Crime Risk
Leigh-on-Sea
Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.
The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 6% in Leigh-on-Sea's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Leigh-on-Sea's crime risk score is down by 15%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Leigh-on-Sea's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 18%, indicating that the risk profile is going up. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Leigh-on-Sea
The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.
1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.
Highest Crime Rates
Leigh-on-Sea • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.
Burglary offences have a crime rate of 3.41 reports per 1,000 people in Leigh-on-Sea, which is 1.09 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 81 crime reports logged by Essex Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Essex Police recorded 92 reports of Vehicle Crime in Leigh-on-Sea, resulting in a crime rate of 3.87 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 0.90.
The crime rate for Possession of Weapons is 0.76 times the national average at 0.32 reports per 1,000. This is from 8 crime reports reported to Essex Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Leigh-on-Sea
Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.
Burglary offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.88 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 54% over this timeframe.
Theft From the Person offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.52 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 0.59 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 12% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Leigh-on-Sea
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.60 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.
Robbery offences are trending downwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.14 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 0.57 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 100% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Leigh-on-Sea • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Leigh-on-Sea | Essex | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 124 | 5.22 | 0.37 | 15,826 | 7.63 | 0.54 | 74,182 | 10.23 | 0.72 |
| Bicycle Theft | 18 | 0.76 | 1.52 | 1,211 | 0.59 | 0.81 | 5,325 | 0.72 | 0.99 |
| Burglary | 81 | 3.41 | 1.09 | 5,328 | 2.58 | 0.82 | 17,593 | 2.42 | 0.77 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 75 | 3.14 | 0.50 | 12,427 | 5.98 | 0.95 | 40,107 | 5.51 | 0.88 |
| Drugs | 43 | 1.79 | 0.58 | 6,807 | 3.27 | 1.06 | 18,935 | 2.59 | 0.84 |
| Other Crime | 16 | 0.65 | 0.39 | 3,330 | 1.61 | 0.87 | 12,241 | 1.70 | 0.92 |
| Other Theft | 69 | 2.89 | 0.55 | 10,377 | 4.98 | 0.88 | 34,703 | 4.78 | 0.84 |
| Possession of Weapons | 8 | 0.32 | 0.76 | 1,752 | 0.84 | 0.99 | 5,931 | 0.83 | 0.98 |
| Public Order | 82 | 3.44 | 0.59 | 10,675 | 5.12 | 0.88 | 32,088 | 4.42 | 0.76 |
| Robbery | 5 | 0.20 | 0.67 | 1,433 | 0.69 | 0.58 | 4,492 | 0.61 | 0.52 |
| Shoplifting | 36 | 1.51 | 0.23 | 13,424 | 6.46 | 0.91 | 43,068 | 5.94 | 0.83 |
| Theft From the Person | 7 | 0.28 | 0.36 | 997 | 0.49 | 0.32 | 3,654 | 0.52 | 0.34 |
| Vehicle Crime | 92 | 3.87 | 0.90 | 10,314 | 4.97 | 1.16 | 27,821 | 3.84 | 0.89 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 471 | 19.82 | 0.65 | 65,641 | 31.56 | 1.04 | 200,684 | 27.65 | 0.91 |
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Total Crime by Year
Leigh-on-Sea | Essex | East of England | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,003 | 42.08 | 0.62 | 143,716 | 69.14 | 0.96 | 446,642 | 61.53 | 0.85 |
| 2025 | 923 | 38.81 | 0.55 | 139,780 | 67.68 | 0.91 | 441,082 | 61.31 | 0.83 |
| 2024 | 1,157 | 49.20 | 0.67 | 150,055 | 73.45 | 0.97 | 443,460 | 62.34 | 0.83 |
| 2023 | 1,217 | 52.23 | 0.68 | 162,636 | 80.64 | 1.02 | 474,715 | 67.51 | 0.85 |
| 2022 | 1,373 | 59.00 | 0.79 | 166,739 | 83.60 | 1.09 | 471,617 | 67.78 | 0.88 |
| 2021 | 1,178 | 50.53 | 0.76 | 150,121 | 75.78 | 1.11 | 437,869 | 63.51 | 0.93 |
| 2020 | 1,366 | 58.36 | 0.81 | 162,259 | 82.34 | 1.11 | 465,376 | 67.88 | 0.92 |
| 2019 | 1,489 | 63.15 | 0.85 | 161,365 | 82.25 | 1.08 | 482,539 | 70.87 | 0.93 |
| 2018 | 1,108 | 46.77 | 0.68 | 137,578 | 70.55 | 0.99 | 439,882 | 64.91 | 0.91 |
| 2017 | 1,170 | 49.70 | 0.81 | 122,860 | 63.43 | 0.99 | 396,747 | 58.76 | 0.92 |
| 2016 | 388 | 16.55 | 0.90 | 37,128 | 19.19 | 1.01 | 116,493 | 17.30 | 0.91 |
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Leigh-on-Sea Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maldon | 1,058 | 61.09 | 45% more dangerous |
| Halstead | 835 | 57.76 | 37% more dangerous |
| Heybridge | 420 | 49.71 | 18% more dangerous |
| Wivenhoe | 357 | 46.73 | 11% more dangerous |
| Buckhurst Hill | 636 | 51.01 | 21% more dangerous |
| Brightlingsea | 427 | 46.85 | 11% more dangerous |
| Frinton and Walton | 1,138 | 53.15 | 26% more dangerous |
| Burnham-on-Crouch | 505 | 49.49 | 18% more dangerous |
| Great Dunmow | 651 | 48.88 | 16% more dangerous |
| Great Baddow | 777 | 49.14 | 17% more dangerous |
| Springfield | 286 | 34.15 | 19% safer |
| Leigh-on-Sea | 1,003 | 42.08 | - |
| Tiptree | 385 | 37.19 | 12% safer |
| South Woodham Ferrers | 667 | 40.35 | 4.1% safer |
| Saffron Walden | 700 | 36.02 | 14% safer |
| Hawkwell | 370 | 29.45 | 30% safer |
| Hockley | 272 | 26.15 | 38% safer |
Comparing Leigh-on-Sea to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Leigh-on-Sea | 42.08 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 89% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 97% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 100% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 133% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 149% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 150% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 153% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 155% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 156% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 197% more dangerous |
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Offences In and Around Leigh-on-Sea's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Leigh-on-Sea that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Apr 2026.
| Name | ASB | Drugs | Public Order | Robbery | VSO | All Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonchurch Recreation Ground | 4 | - | - | - | 2 | 0 |
| Leigh Cemetery | 2 | - | 1 | - | 5 | 3 |
| Belfairs Swim Centre | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Marshall Close Allotments | - | - | - | - | 1 | 2 |
| Manchester Drive Allotments | 6 | - | 2 | - | 32 | 41 |
Recent Crimes in Leigh-on-Sea
The 20 most recent crime reports in Leigh-on-Sea.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Laurel Close | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Olive Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Leigh Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Olive Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Broadway | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Southsea Mews | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Grand Drive | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Carlton Drive | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Leigh Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Laurel Close | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Grange Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Seaview Road | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Queen'S Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Leigh Gardens | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Fairleigh Drive | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Rectory Grove | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Supermarket | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Canonsleigh Crescent | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Cranleigh Drive | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Barnard Road |
Methodology & Data Sources
Leigh-on-Sea Crime Report
Data Sources & Processing
Every month, CrimeRate processes crime reports from data.police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often "snapped" to the middle of the nearest street, or to the nearest major landmark. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime.
Data releases on data.police.uk happen once a month, with a two-month delay. This means that, for example, crimes reported in Leigh-on-Sea during August 2026 will typically become available in October 2026. The latest release is for Apr 2026 and was released in Jun 2026. To provide current and historical crime statistics, CrimeRate processed 61,669,232 crime reports for the latest release.
Leigh-on-Sea Data Points
For Leigh-on-Sea, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2023 release of their Parishes and Non Civil Parished Areas dataset, using the PARNCP23CD column value E04001128.
Due to the 2021 Census being conducted during a UK-wide Coronavirus lockdown, the daytime population figures released so far cannot be relied on for purposes such as comparing crime rates. Instead, CrimeRate uses Leigh-on-Sea's daytime - or "workday" - population of 18,101 from the ONS 2011 Census for calculations throughout the site.
All geographic boundaries use the full resolution - extent of the realm versions where provided to avoid missing crime reports near coastlines and rivers - the banks of the Thames in particular - that would otherwise not be included when using the clipped to the coastline datasets.
Calculating Crime Rates
CrimeRate locates the UK region, county, and town/city/village locality for each crime report, and calculates the crime rate by taking the sum of all crime reports, dividing it by the locality's daytime / "workday" population, and multiplying the result by 1,000 to get the crime rate per 1,000.
Crime Risk Score Calculations
CrimeRate calculates crime counts for local, nearby, and wider areas for every postcode in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The postcodes locations are deduplicated by a process that ensures distinct points are approximately 50 metres apart. This process removes the bias that would otherwise come from counting the same crimes several times in heavily populated areas.
Using a custom algorithm developed in-house, CrimeRate applies a crime severity weighting to each area's crime counts, based on the type of crime reported. This increases or decreases the crime count, or zeroes it out entirely, depending on the crime type. A separate crime severity rate is then calculated, standardised, and scaled to fit the crime risk score range of 1 to 1,000, with 1 being the lowest score, and 1,000 the highest.
Crime risk scores undergo further analysis per town, city, and village plus other areas including police forces and neighbourhoods. CrimeRate uses percentiles to work out the most common range of crime risk scores in each locality. This includes identifying the high and low bounds where approximately 68% of scores fall, and finding the median (50th percentile) for easy reference.
The crime types with a weight of zero are: Anti-Social Behaviour; Bicycle Theft; Other Crime; Other Theft; and Shoplifting. The highest weights to are assigned to Violence & Sexual Offences, and the lowest to Vehicle Crime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crime in Leigh-on-Sea