Southampton has been ranked as the most dangerous area in Hampshire despite crime falling.

The city made up 20.3 per cent of the county's overall crime in the year up to September 2023, new figures from the Office for National Statistics have shown. 

Analysis by West Midlands Garage Doors and Online Marketing Surgery has shown there were 34,615 crimes reported in Southampton during this period. 

This was almost 8,000 more than neighbouring Portsmouth which recorded 26,786 crimes at this time.

In comparison, The New Forest had the third most reports with 11,433 whilst Eastleigh ranked fifth with 8,863, just behind Havant in fourth. 

Winchester saw 8,339 crimes reported whilst Test Valley and Gosport recorded 8,318 and 7,209 respectively. 

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Fareham ranked the lowest with 6,119, just behind East Hampshire. 

It comes as Hampshire Constabulary ranked seventh for the amount of crimes reported. 

But Southampton superintendent Phil Lamb said crime has been falling in Southampton with a 3.6 per cent reduction in all crime in 2023 compared with 2022. 

He told the Echo: "Anti-social behaviour has reduced by 26 per cent, burglary is down 28.7 per cent, bicycle theft is down 34 per cent and there has also been a reduction in violent offences.

“We have been working proactively in all areas of the city where residents tell us that certain crime types are an issue and have been encouraging reporting.

“The recent introduction of dedicated neighbourhood officers means that our neighbourhood policing teams are more closely linked in with their communities than ever before and are gathering increasing amounts of intelligence on where the problems are within their neighbourhoods.

“We will continue to disrupt criminality with a visible police presence, targeted operations and by working closely with partners and residents within the city.”

Of the crimes reported in Hampshire, there were 13,694 violent offences, 1,379 sexual offences, 10,129 thefts, 1,586 burglaries, 2,849 shoplifting and 1,476 drug offences.

Southampton has the highest population out of all of the areas in the county with the most recent census showing a total headcount of 249,000, compared with 208,100 in Portsmouth and 1.4 million across the county.

Southampton Safer City boss, Cllr Matt Renyard, said there has been a decline in violent crime by nine per cent and a four per cent drop in domestic violence but added: "It is clear that there is further work to do to address some of the key issues linked to violent crime that exist within Southampton.

"Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary due to the nature of the current national funding formula from the Home Office are underfunded compared to other forces across the country.

"With a ~£50M gap from where we were in 2010, the large metropolitan areas of Southampton and Portsmouth feeling the brunt of that shortfall.

"I am personally committed to making sure that as a city we get our fair share of Home Office funding and work together with our partners and communities to tackle crime to create a safer city with stronger communities and the heart, to create a City where the people of Southampton can feel safe.”

He added that the council has taken "significant steps forward in increasing awareness of national issues" by working with partners including Hampshire Constabulary, Go! Southampton and the Youth Justice Service.

"We are actively working to prevent and reduce crimes through newly designated neighbourhood officers, area targeted action, young person intervention and engagement, and CCTV, to make Southampton residents feel safer."