Crime in Brightlingsea
Recorded crime in Brightlingsea is 0.6 times the Tendring average and 0.6 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 16%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.
Within 1.5 km of the centre of Brightlingsea: about 8,849 residents in 6 neighbourhoods.
- Safety in the UK
- 6/10Average crime
- Living
- 6.9/10Good
- 5-year change
- −16%fewer crimes
- vs the council
- 0.6×the Tendring average
Neighbourhoods by Safety
Within 1.5 km of the centre of Brightlingsea.
Crime over 5 years
Down 16% in 5 years Recorded crimes within 1.5 km of Brightlingsea, anti-social behaviour left out.
What is recorded
Crime severity: 0.6× the Tendring average (0.6× the England and Wales average). 49 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.
- Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 72% of the harm here
- Burglary: 12% of the harm here
- Other theft: 4% of the harm here
"Violence and sexual offences" is 72% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.
Anti-social behaviour: 10 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.
Crimes recorded in Tendring (the whole council area)
April 2025 to March 2026, for the whole Tendring council area, not only Brightlingsea. Source: Home Office, police recorded crime by community safety partnership.
| Type | Crimes in 2025/26 | Per 1,000 residents | Change on 2024/25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cars stolen | 300 | 1.9 | Up 3% |
| Cars broken into | 257 | 1.6 | Up 12% |
| Vandalism (homes, other buildings and vehicles) | 718 | 4.6 | Down 12% |
| Burglary of homes | 239 | 1.5 | Up 14% |
| Homicide (murder and manslaughter) | 0 | - | - |
Under 10 a year: no rate or change, the numbers are too small to compare.
How often crimes lead to a charge in CO7
In CO7, the postcode district at the centre of Brightlingsea, 7% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).
- Charged or summonsed
- Caution or other action
- Suspect found, not prosecuted
- No suspect identified
- Still open
Show as a table
| Type | Crimes | Charged or summonsed | Caution or other action | Suspect found, not prosecuted | No suspect identified | Still open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 821 | 6% | 11% | 66% | 13% | 4% |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 178 | 4% | 4% | 24% | 67% | 2% |
| Other theft | 148 | 1% | 2% | 28% | 64% | 5% |
| Public order | 118 | 13% | 2% | 53% | 30% | 3% |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 104 | 3% | 1% | 19% | 72% | 5% |
| Shoplifting | 82 | 26% | 0% | 5% | 68% | 1% |
| Burglary | 80 | 3% | 1% | 16% | 80% | 0% |
Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 4% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.
Road collisions
Tendring, 2023 to 2025: 216 road collisions a year with someone hurt, 64 of them with someone killed or seriously injured. 10 collisions were fatal in those 3 years.
1.4 a year per 1,000 residents (Great Britain 1.5). 30% of them killed or seriously injured someone (Great Britain 26%).
Collisions on public roads that the police recorded where someone was hurt, counted where they happened, so busy through roads and town centres with few residents come out high. Serious and slight use the Department for Transport's adjusted severity, comparable between police forces. Source: Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), Open Government Licence v3.0.
Crime by type
Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.
| Type | Per 1,000 a year |
|---|---|
| Robbery | 0.3 |
| Burglary | 2.5 |
| Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences) | 24.0 |
| Drugs | 1.2 |
| Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons) | 0.4 |
| Other crime | 1.4 |
| Other theft | 4.2 |
| Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching) | 0.1 |
| Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into) | 2.6 |
| Criminal damage and arson (vandalism) | 6.4 |
| Public order | 4.5 |
| Bicycle theft | 0.3 |
| Shoplifting | 1.2 |
Postcode districts in Brightlingsea
Nearby towns
Council: Tendring
Questions about crime in Brightlingsea
- Is Brightlingsea a safe place to live?
- Brightlingsea scores 6 out of 10 for safety (average crime), compared with every neighbourhood in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is 0.6 times the Tendring average.
- Is crime going up or down in Brightlingsea?
- Down 16% over 5 years, from 477 recorded crimes a year to 398.
- What is the most common crime in Brightlingsea?
- The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 24 per 1,000 residents a year.
- How does crime in Brightlingsea compare with Tendring?
- Crime severity in Brightlingsea is 0.6 times the Tendring average.
- How often does crime lead to a charge in Brightlingsea?
- In CO7, the postcode district at the centre of Brightlingsea, 7% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 36% were closed without a suspect being identified.
- How many burglaries are solved in Brightlingsea?
- Of 80 burglaries reported in CO7, the postcode district at the centre of Brightlingsea between September 2024 and August 2025, 3% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 80% were closed with no suspect identified.
- How many cars are stolen in Brightlingsea?
- In Tendring, the council area Brightlingsea is in, the police recorded 300 cars stolen in 2025/26 (April 2025 to March 2026), 1.9 per 1,000 residents, up 3% on the year before.
- Is vandalism common in Brightlingsea?
- 718 acts of vandalism to homes, other buildings and vehicles were recorded in 2025/26, in Tendring, the council area Brightlingsea is in, 4.6 per 1,000 residents, about the England and Wales average.
- How many murders were there in Brightlingsea last year?
- No homicides (murder or manslaughter) were recorded in 2025/26, in Tendring, the council area Brightlingsea is in, against 2 the year before.