Crime across the UK fell by nearly 30 per cent during the early stages of lockdown.

Crimes like rape, burglary, vehicle crime, serious assault, robbery, and shoplifting all fell sharply when Boris Johnson imposed tight restrictions on the British public.

But how much did crime fall where we live?

We've scoured April's police data across our local areas to see whether our communities followed the national trend or whether reported crimes stayed at a similar level.

Throughout April, more severe lockdown restrictions were in force - people could only go out for four reasons, so you'd think crime would dramatically fall.

Well, you'd be mistaken.

The police data shows a decline in crime in seven of our areas but not as much as you'd expect.

In fact, only Watford town centre has reported a significant fall.

As you can see in this graph above, crime levels in April were pretty similar with the rest of the year in most areas except in central Watford where the number of reported crimes fell to 175.

This chart shows North Watford, which also includes Garston, recorded the most crimes in April with 310.

The Abbots Langley area recorded the least with 122.

Here we can see what the most common crimes committed were across the seven areas added up.

Anti-social behaviour and violent and sexual offences, in line with the rest of the year, make up the majority of reports.

This next chart helps compare which areas are more blighted by a particular crime in April.

For example, you can see there have been more reports of criminal damage in Rickmansworth and South Oxhey than in the other five areas, while thefts from vehicles have been more of a problem in West Watford and North Watford.

Central Watford

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Anti-social behaviour (59)
  2. Violent and sexual offences (48)
  3. Shoplifting (13)
  4. Public order (12)

Crime has fallen the most in central Watford - most likely because shops, pubs, and clubs have been closed.

As a result, there has been less shoplifting and public order offences.

April recorded 175 offences - over the last 11 months, recorded crimes have averaged 377 a month.

West Watford

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Anti-social behaviour (88)
  2. Violent and sexual offences (87)
  3. Criminal damage and arson (21)
  4. Public order (21)

There were a total of 241 crimes recorded in this area in April.

West Watford, Cassiobury, and Oxhey, saw a rise in vehicle crime from March to April, the police data shows but the 21 reports are still lower than a monthly average of 41.

Anti-social behaviour and violent and sexual offences have remained similar, as shown by the graph.

Public order and theft dropped in April.

It should also be noted that crime fell in this area in November 2019 compared to the previous six months, and levels have since remained stable.

North Watford

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Anti-social behaviour (101)
  2. Violent and sexual offences (93)
  3. Vehicle crime (24)
  4. Public order (21)

April saw a rise in anti-social behaviour reports to police in North Watford and Garston.

There were 101 reports compared to a monthly average of 85.

Public order offences remained the same but shoplifting nearly halved and other types of theft like making off without payment was down from an average of 36 to 10.

This area recorded the most number of crimes (310) in April but this is less than the average number of 353.

Abbots Langley

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Violent and sexual offences (47)
  2. Anti-social behaviour (32)
  3. Criminal damage and arson (10)
  4. Other theft (10) (not including theft from person or bike theft)

Abbots Langley, Leavesden, and Bedmond, are together statistically the safest areas to live going by the police crime data.

There were 122 crimes reported in April, which is barely less than the monthly average of 123 - but this figure of 122 is a lot less than anywhere else locally.

But violent and sexual offences, and anti-social behaviour in these areas in April was actually up slightly compared to recent months.

Burglary was completely down as was vehicle crime.

Bushey

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Anti-social behaviour (81)
  2. Violent and sexual offences (49)
  3. Vehicle crime (13)
  4. Other theft (10) (not including bike theft or theft from person)

Crime levels in Bushey are relatively low compared to other areas but Bushey, Bushey Heath, and Radlett collectively saw a noticeable increase in anti-social behaviour.

In March, there were 29 anti-social reports, but this figure rose to 81 for April. The average over the last year is 49.

Reassuringly, burglary halved in April with vehicle crime also down from an average of 35 to 13.

In total, 197 crimes were reported in these areas compared to a monthly average of 218.

Rickmansworth

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Anti-social behaviour (65)
  2. Violent and sexual offences (58)
  3. Criminal damage and arson (20)
  4. Vehicle crime (16)

Crime levels in Rickmansworth district fell just a little bit in April, although anti-social behaviour reports grew.

There were 65 ASB reports in April compared to a monthly average of 51.

However, burglary was done from an average of 18 to 8 with vehicle crime also down.

In total, 219 crimes were reported compared to a monthly average of 231.

South Oxhey

Top 4 most common crimes in April

  1. Anti-social behaviour (56)
  2. Violent and sexual offences (49)
  3. Criminal damage and arson (19)
  4. Public order (16)

There has not been much difference in the number of crimes reported in South Oxhey, Oxhey Hall, and Moor Park in April and the rest of the year.

There were 176 crimes reported in April compared to a monthly average of 183.

Ant-social behaviour grew slightly with 56 reports in April.

Vehicle crime and shoplifting was down.