These days, everyone claims they live in the worst possible area for crime and that “things aren’t like they used to be”. But how often is this actually the case?

When I was living at home with my parents, I always thought that the towns and villages around mine could be a little shifty at night. Nothing amazingly bad but that was the limit of my experience as a kid. When I moved to a big city when I went to university, that all changed.

I ended up living somewhere in my final year where shootings, stabbings and muggings were things not so out of the ordinary and yet I didn’t really notice it, or rather it didn’t affect my life that much. It’s all perspective I guess. It wasn’t the worst place in the world, but it sure as hell wasn’t the safest.

So when you really think about it, how safe is your area? Chances are it isn’t as bad as you think it is…