New research has revealed that three areas in Lancashire have seen the biggest decreases in crime, with one borough seeing crime rates almost halve in three years.

The research has been compiled by investigating the overall number of crimes in different parts of the country as well as breaking the data down into different types of crime. 

It found that in South Ribble, the crime rate had almost halved since 2019, with 7,448 crime incidents recorded in 2022, compared to 14,109 in 2019.

Lancaster and Fylde also witnessed a reduction in crime.

The 10 UK areas with the biggest decrease in crime read from left to right; rank; community safety partnership; total recorded crime 2019; total recorded crime 2020; total recorded crime 2021; total recorded crime 2022; three year difference; three year % change

  • South Ribble; 14,109; 12,143; 11,636; 7,448; -6,661; -47.21%
  • Cheshire East; 31,299; 27,792; 22,240; 21,863; -9,436; -30.15%
  • Broxbourne; 8,148; 7,089; 6,284; 6,188; -1,960;  -24.05%
  • Fylde; 4,994; 3,974; 4,395; 4,117; -877; -17.56%
  • North Lincolnshire; 16,504; 15,022; 13,914; 13,614; -2,890; -17.51%
  • East Riding of Yorkshire; 21,337; 18,591; 18,728; 17,629; -3,708;  -17.38%
  • Kingston upon Hull; 42,670; 37,859; 36,799; 35,458; -7,212; -16.90%
  • Lancaster; 13,215; 10,509; 10,796; 10,986; -2,229; -16.87%
  • North Hertfordshire; 7,802; 6,503; 5,933; 6,488; -1,314; -16.84%
  • East Hertfordshire; 8,764; 7,191; 7,071; 7,336; -1,428; -16.29%

South Ribble has the biggest decrease in crime since 2019 which saw 6,661 fewer crimes in 2022 than it did three years earlier, a reduction of 47.21 per cent.

South Ribble also had the biggest decrease in nearly all categories of crimes, including the following: violent crime (-38.01%), sexual offences (-25.70%), theft offences (-61.28%), robberies (-65.63%), public order offences (-49.74%), and drug offences (-60.29%).

A spokesperson for Lancashire Police said: “It’s great to see some of these reductions in crime but we are not complacent, and we remain committed to preventing and fighting crime, keeping our communities safe and putting victims at the heart of everything we do.”

The research was carried out by Get Licensed, a website providing frontline security training.