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Crime

Crime in Southend-on-Sea by area

Every neighbourhood we cover, ranked by crimes per 1,000 residents a year, from police.uk figures for June to August 2026. Highest first. Pick a type of crime to re-rank, or tap a column to sort.

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6,328crimes recordedJune to August 2026
+14%on the 3 months beforemore crime
Leigh-on-Sealowest rate58.5 per 1,000 a year
148.3middle areacrimes per 1,000 a year

Darker means more crime per resident. Tap an area for its page.

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Most improved: North Shoebury (7%), Shoeburyness (8%) and Southend-on-Sea (14%), compared with the three months before.

Every area, ranked

#Most common
1Southend-on-SeaSS1 · 82,213 residents 218.9▲ 14%violence
2PrittlewellSS0 · 19,164 residents 204.3▲ 23%violence
3SouthchurchSS1 · 22,030 residents 189.7▲ 19%violence
4Westcliff-on-SeaSS0 · 25,105 residents 148.3▲ 23%violence
5North ShoeburySS3 · 11,741 residents 123.7▲ 7%violence
6ShoeburynessSS3 · 23,297 residents 109.7▲ 8%violence
7EastwoodSS0 · 10,489 residents 82.8▲ 26%violence
8Leigh-on-SeaSS9 · 44,517 residents 58.5▲ 23%violence

Change compares the last three months with the three before. A dash means too few crimes to compare fairly.

Why busy centres look worst

Crimes are counted where they happen, but residents are counted where they live. Town centres and shopping areas have lots of shops, bars and visitors and not many residents, so their rates come out high even though most people there are just passing through.

How we work it out

Each area is a circle round its middle, the same as on its MeBabber page. We count the crimes police.uk records inside the circle over the last three months and turn that into a yearly figure, then divide by the number of people who live inside the circle, from the 2021 Census. Police locations are moved slightly on purpose to protect victims, so treat small differences between neighbouring areas with a pinch of salt.

Sources: data.police.uk and the Office for National Statistics, both under the Open Government Licence. Figures update every month.

Crime in every area

Questions people ask

Which areas of Southend-on-Sea have the lowest crime?

Over June to August 2026, the areas with the fewest crimes per 1,000 residents were Leigh-on-Sea, Eastwood, Shoeburyness, North Shoebury and Westcliff-on-Sea.

Which areas of Southend-on-Sea have the highest crime?

Leaving aside the big shopping and industrial areas, where visitors and workers push the figures up, the highest rates over June to August 2026 were in Southend-on-Sea, Prittlewell, Southchurch, Westcliff-on-Sea and North Shoebury.

Is crime going up or down in Southend-on-Sea?

Across Southend-on-Sea, 6,328 crimes were recorded over June to August 2026, 14% more than the three months before.

How is crime per 1,000 residents worked out?

We count the crimes police.uk records inside each area, turn the last three months into a yearly figure, and divide by the number of people who live there from the 2021 Census.