THE BURNHAM-ON-SEA and Highbridge area has been named the second most dangerous small town in Somerset.

The data comes from crimerate.co.uk - a site which uses a combination of open police force data, social media signals, and FOI requests to compile a base of reliable crime data.

The crime rate in the civil parish last year was 87 crimes per 1,000 people, 35% higher than the average rate across the county as a whole.Burnham and Highbridge Weekly News:

April 2022 was a dark month for Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge residents - with five burglaries, it became Somerset's most dangerous small town for burglary.

In August 2022, Burnham and Highbridge saw the most bicycle thefts of any small town in Somerset, with four reported over 31 days.

The area saw 22 reports of criminal damage and arson in October, making its crime rate of 1.1 the worst for small towns in Somerset that month.

Violence and sexual offences in the area rose by 21% from 2021, with a total of 858 offences in 2022, compared to 708 the previous year.