Crime data has revealed the most hostile and safest places to live in England and Wales.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysed the number of crimes recorded by police per 1,000 people in each area and compiled a list.
Cleveland in Yorkshire was ranked top in the UK with 139.6 crimes reported per 1,000 people.
Made up of Hartlepool, Stockton-on-Tees and Middlesbrough in the North East, Cleveland, which had a population of 569,800 recorded in the 2020 Census, had the highest rate of sexual offences too.
In the year to September 2022, the area recorded 2,625 sexual offences, 10,650 cases of criminal damage and arson, 2,123 drug offences and 29,730 cases of violence against the person.
Wiltshire, in South West England, was at the bottom of the list, with 58.1 crimes per 1000 people and below the national average of 91.9 crimes.
North Yorkshire, Surrey and Devon and Cornwall followed closely behind.
Perhaps surprisingly, London was not in the top three places for high-crime areas. The capital city ranked fifth with 96.6 recorded crimes per 1,000 people.
London only topped the highest number of thefts per 1,000 people, with 43.7.
The worst affected region overall was Yorkshire and the Humber with an average of 111.1 crimes per 1,000 people. The North West was next at 109.2, followed by the North East at 104.3.
The full list of recorded regions for the rate of offences per 1,000 people is as follows:
- Yorkshire and the Humber – 111.1
- Northwest – 109.2
- Northeast – 104.3
- West Midlands – 99.8
- London – 96.6
- Wales – 87.1
- East Midlands – 85
- Southeast – 79.8
- Southwest – 70.3
- East – 78
- National average – 91.9
