Lambeth recorded more crime than any other borough in south-west London in October, with 3,440 offences logged in the borough during the month.
Across the seven south-west London boroughs — Croydon, Sutton, Merton, Lambeth, Kingston, Richmond and Wandsworth — a total of 13,111 offences were recorded in October, up 1.8 per cent on the number recorded in September.
Key facts
- Total: 13,111 offences recorded across south-west London in October 2026, up 1.8% on September
- Highest: Lambeth, with 3,440 offences
- Lowest: Richmond-upon-Thames, with 980 offences
- Most common offences: theft and violence against the person in every borough
- Source of figures: offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police — these are reported crimes, not convictions
Lambeth: theft the biggest problem
Lambeth’s 3,440 offences were the highest of any south-west London borough. Theft was the most common offence in the borough, with 1,314 incidents, followed by violence against the person with 786 reports.
There were also 204 cases of arson and criminal damage, 205 public order offences, 145 robberies and 157 burglaries in the borough during October.
Croydon second, Wandsworth third
Croydon had the second-highest crime total, with 2,957 offences in October. As in Lambeth, violence against the person and theft were the most frequently recorded crimes, with 959 and 666 reports respectively.
Vehicle offences were the next most common in Croydon at 315, followed by 214 cases of arson and criminal damage.
Wandsworth ranked third, with 2,364 offences reported during the month. The borough recorded 618 incidents of violence against the person and 672 theft offences, alongside 323 vehicle crimes.
Arson and criminal damage, burglaries and public order offences accounted for 141, 165 and 143 cases respectively in Wandsworth.
Sutton and Merton
Sutton was next in the rankings, with 1,163 offences reported in October. This included 415 cases of violence against the person, 256 thefts and 113 vehicle offences, along with 84 public order offences and 88 incidents of arson and criminal damage.
In Merton, 1,146 offences were recorded in October. As elsewhere in south-west London, violence against the person and theft were the most common crimes.
Kingston and Richmond lowest
Kingston and Richmond-upon-Thames recorded the lowest crime levels in south-west London during October.
Kingston saw 1,066 offences, including 335 cases of violence against the person and 340 thefts.
Richmond recorded 980 offences, making it the borough with the lowest total in south-west London.
How south-west London compares
The south-west figures come in the same month as the figures for the rest of the capital. South-east London recorded 12,409 offences in October, a 2.2 per cent rise on September, with Southwark the highest at 3,730 and Bexley the lowest at 1,415.
East London, meanwhile, recorded 14,040 offences in October — the highest of the three areas covered so far, though the borough sets are different in each case, so the totals are not directly comparable.
Across all three areas, the pattern is the same: theft and violence against the person dominate the figures, with vehicle crime, burglary and criminal damage making up most of the rest.
It is worth remembering what these numbers are. They count offences recorded by the Metropolitan Police, which means they reflect crimes reported to and logged by officers — not the number of people charged or convicted. A rise in recorded offences can reflect both more crime happening and more people coming forward to report it.
The figures also cover a single month, so a small percentage change — like south-west London’s 1.8 per cent rise — can be driven by a relatively small number of additional offences. Longer-term trends will only become clear once several months of figures are published.
