Official data shows the most dangerous places to live in the UK
**Warning: Discussion of sexual violence, drugs, violence, stalking and harassment.**
The Office for National Statistics has revealed which areas of the UK have the worst number of crimes and are the most dangerous to live in.
With the UK having produced series such as Line of Duty and Happy Valley, it's hardly a surprise there are some particularly dodgy areas to live in across the country.
The shows' plots and characters may be fictional, but the areas are certainly not and some have a particularly high rate of crime, perfectly portrayed by the series.
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The Office for National Statistics has used a map of Britain to number areas of the UK.
Number one is the 'most dangerous' area and number 42, the least dangerous.
We'd be here all day and it would be pretty bleak to list them all, so here's the top 10 'most dangerous places to live' in the UK according to statistics in the year ending September 2022:
(Places you may want to avoid next time you're planning on moving or if you live in one, be prepared to start packing a bag).
North Wales
Coming in at spot number 10, likely making it some people's 10th least desirable place to live in the whole of the UK, is the area of North Wales.
I frequently visit North Wales, ambling among the sheep on the Horse Shoe Pass and strolling the lanes of Denbigh. I've yet to have been mugged or seen any sort of crime take place and so was fairly shocked to see it come in at 10th spot on the list.
However, according to the Office for National Statistics, in North Wales, there's an average of 96.3 crimes per 1,000 people, more than London which has a slightly lower 95.9 crimes per 1,000 people.
Kent
Kent falls at place number nine of the 'most dangerous places to live' in the UK.
With a crime rate of 96.5 crimes per 1,000 people, the county in the city of Canterbury in the South East of England certainly defies the presumptions I previously had about its lush fields and quaint historic architecture such as Canterbury Cathedral.
Gwent
Gwent comes in at spot number eight with 97.9 crimes per 1,000 people.
Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in the south-east of Wales and Gwent police are responsible for policing the local authority areas of Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, Newport and Torfaen.
Humberside
Humberside - made up of parts of the East Riding of Yorkshire, West Riding of Yorkshire, and the northern part of Lindsey, Lincolnshire - comes in at seventh on the list of the most dangerous places to live in the UK with 103 crimes per 1,000 people.
When answering the question, 'Is Yorkshire safe to live in?' Region Security Guarding simply states: "This is not an easy question - Yorkshire is one of the largest areas in England."
However, hold your breath before thinking about other parts of Yorkshire to live in as there's more coming higher on up the 'most dangerous areas to live' list.
South Yorkshire
The Office for National Statistics' list certainly isn't doing Yorkshire any favours.
South Yorkshire - a county made up of the four councils, Doncaster, Sheffield, Barnsley and Rotherham - comes in at place number six.
It has a total of 111.3 crimes a year per 1,000 people.
Merseyside
The county in the north-west of England comes within the top five most dangerous places to live in the UK.
Merseyside recorded 120.2 crimes per 1,000 people in the year ending September 2022.
It may have only come in fifth on the list of the most dangerous places in the UK, but the county comes in at number one for the highest amount of drug offences - 8.5 recorded per 1,000 people.
West Midlands
The West Midlands - which includes the UK's second-largest city of Birmingham - recorded 126.4 crimes per 1,000 people, coming in at spot number four on the map.
Across the whole of England and Wales, the West Midlands recorded the most amount of vehicle offences, with Birmingham Edgbaston MP Preet Gill having since called for further funding to 'double the number of police' in the area.
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester recorded a total of 128.5 crimes per 1,000 people.
It may be third dangerous overall but it comes in second in the UK for the most homicides with a total of 46, falling just behind London.
Manchester is also the second-top area for the highest rate of sexual violence.
West Yorkshire
In the year ending September 2022 West Yorkshire saw 311,573 crimes take place - 132.9 crimes per 1,000 people.
While coming second-worst in the most dangerous places to live in the UK, West Yorkshire came top in the highest number of acts of violence against the person with a total of 131,856 acts - 56.2 per 1,000 people.
The number of cases of stalking and harassment were recorded at 54,993, there were 33 homicides and 9,542 offences of a sexual nature.
Cleveland
It may normally be good to reach the number one spot, but not on this list. It's certainly a gold medal you wouldn't exactly boast about.
Cleveland comes in at numero uno, subsequently making it the current official 'most dangerous place to live' in the whole of the UK.
A county located in the north of England - comprising of areas of Yorkshire and Durham - Cleveland has a hefty 139.6 crimes per 1,000 people and that's excluding fraud.
As per the Mirror, there were 29,730 total cases of 'violence against the person', 2,123 drug offences, 10,650 cases of criminal damage and 2,625 sexual offences in Cleveland in the year ending September 2022.
If you have been affected by any of the issues in this article and wish to speak to someone in confidence, contact The Survivor’s Trust for free on 08088 010 818, or through their website thesurvivorstrust.org
If you want friendly, confidential advice about drugs, you can talk to FRANK. You can call 0300 123 6600, text 82111 or contact through their website 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or livechat from 2pm-6pm any day of the week
Topics: UK News, Crime, True Crime
Poppy Bilderbeck