Photo: John Yaxley · CC BY-SA 2.0Stewartby records shoplifting at 6.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Overall, Stewartby grades B− for safety (#19 of 33 in Bedfordshire): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Annual rates stand at 21.3 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. Measured against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 57% of them record more crime per resident.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Stewartby
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 19% less violent crime per resident in Stewartby than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Stewartby has the 324th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Severn Beach, Hutton and Manea, higher than Mickleton, Harlington and South Brent. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Stewartby: B− for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 235 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Stewartby against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Stewartby runs highest on shoplifting (11.8 per 1,000 against 1.8) and anti-social behaviour (14.1 per 1,000 against 8.8). Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 45 | 17.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 36 | 14.1 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 30 | 11.8 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 10 | 3.9 | 4.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 8 | 3.1 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 2.7 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 6 | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 2.4 | 1 |
| Public order | not graded | 3 | 1.2 | 3.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.4 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“Violent” is police.uk’s violence and sexual offences (which includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury), robbery and possession of weapons. Anti-social behaviour isn’t a crime category; shoplifting and other theft happen mostly in shops and town centres rather than to residents, so neither counts in the grade.
September 2025 to August 2026, per 1,000 residents. The tick on each bar is the typical (median) town among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people.
How Stewartby’s neighbourhoods rank in England
100% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% in the highest-crime 20%. The crime domain scores the risk of violence, burglary, theft and criminal damage where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Stewartby’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (crime domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of England’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
Violent crime down 19% in a year, while towns its size held steady
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -19% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -39% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +28% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +38% (towns its size +0%).
Stewartby places 324th of 550 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Oakley Bedfordshire | 2,507 | 11.7 | 4.4 | 0.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 98 | Westoning Bedfordshire | 2,097 | 12.2 | 6.7 | 2.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 164 | Henlow Bedfordshire | 2,446 | 14.7 | 7.8 | 2.6 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 166 | Wilstead Bedfordshire | 2,404 | 15.8 | 6.8 | 2.4 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 321 | Mickleton Gloucestershire | 2,316 | 21.1 | 9.4 | 2.3 | B |
| 322 | Harlington Bedfordshire | 2,287 | 17.9 | 12.5 | 5.5 | B |
| 323 | South Brent Devon | 2,643 | 22.1 | 8.4 | 5.9 | B− |
| 324 | Stewartby Bedfordshire | 2,546 | 21.3 | 9.4 | 10.3 | B− |
| 325 | Creech St Michael Somerset | 2,327 | 26.8 | 4 | 4 | B− |
| 326 | Ruspidge Gloucestershire | 2,431 | 24 | 7 | 1.2 | B− |
| 327 | Lechlade-on-Thames Gloucestershire | 2,208 | 18.7 | 12.4 | 3.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Stewartby, and others in Bedfordshire.
Crime in Stewartby per 1,000 residents
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
And about 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 15 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
One person died in collisions on Stewartby’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside Stewartby in five years, in which one person died. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Stewartby’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Stewartby’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Stewartby had 2.
Casualties are counted where the collision happened, not where people lived: a main road through town adds through-traffic, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Seriously injured uses the Department for Transport’s adjusted figures, which even out the police forces’ different ways of recording injuries. There’s no national rate here: more than half of road deaths in England and Wales (58%) happen outside every town’s built-up area. Source: DfT road casualty statistics (STATS19), 2021–2025.
Collisions police recorded inside Stewartby’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Stewartby
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stewartby | 2,546 | 21.3 | 9.4 | B− |
| Houghton Conquest | 1,867 | 15.7 | 8 | B+ |
| Wootton | 7,567 | 16.4 | 5.6 | A− |
| Marston Moretaine | 6,350 | 19.7 | 8.8 | B |
| Wixams | 6,044 | 35 | 12.4 | C− |
| Wilstead | 2,404 | 15.8 | 6.8 | A− |
| Kempston | 22,779 | 35.5 | 16 | C− |
| Ampthill | 8,825 | 16.1 | 8.5 | B+ |
Stewartby records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Wixams and Kempston record more. Houghton Conquest, 1.4 miles away, records 15.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Stewartby’s 21.3.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Where crimes happen, not where victims live. police.uk places each crime at a point near where it happened. Town centres with shops, stations, a hospital and nightlife record more crime per resident, and residents of nearby villages who come in to shop or go out are part of that count.
- Bigger towns record more per resident. Across UK towns, recorded crime per resident rises steeply with size, more than in the U.S., so a city’s grade sits low against the whole UK. The “towns its size” figures show where Stewartby sits among towns like it; they are context and don’t change the grade.
- Points are approximate. police.uk moves each point to the nearest of a set of anonymous map points, so crimes near the edge of the built-up area can fall either side of it.
Questions about safety in Stewartby
Is Stewartby safe?
Police recorded 21.3 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Stewartby’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 54% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Stewartby is 324th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Stewartby?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 19%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 39%, shoplifting and theft rose 28% and anti-social behaviour rose 38%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Stewartby?
Violence & sexual offences: 45 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (30) and criminal damage & arson (10), with 36 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Stewartby compare with Bedford?
Bedford records 44.5 violent and sexual offences and 20.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Stewartby’s 21.3 and 9.4, over the same three years.
Sources: data.police.uk street-level crime, 36 months to August 2026, points inside the built-up-area boundary · ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area · MHCLG English Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain by LSOA (residents from ONS Census 2021) · Department for Transport road casualty statistics (STATS19), collisions 2021–2025, points inside the built-up-area boundary · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.