Photo: Michael Robinson · CC BY-SA 2.0Burghfield Common stands out for shoplifting: 6.6 times the rate of a typical town its size
On violence it beats 57% of UK towns; on burglary, vehicle crime and damage, only 32%. Across all the graded crimes, Burghfield Common lands on B− (#16 of 30 in Berkshire): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Per 1,000 residents a year, 20.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Burghfield Common
About the middle for a town its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Burghfield Common has the 291st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Farnham Common and Farnham Royal, Liphook and Stoney Stanton, higher than Telscombe Cliffs, Great Denham and Handsacre and Armitage. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 16% of Burghfield Common’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The B− for Burghfield Common, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 608 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Burghfield Common 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, Burghfield Common runs highest on shoplifting (12.1 per 1,000 against 1.8), criminal damage & arson (12.5 per 1,000 against 4.5) and anti-social behaviour (14.5 per 1,000 against 8.8). Burglary and other theft sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 129 | 20.8 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 90 | 14.5 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 78 | 12.5 | 4.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 75 | 12.1 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 23 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 17 | 2.7 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 13 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 10 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 6 | 1 | 2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 0.8 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 0.5 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| 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.
1 in 6 Burghfield Common residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
16% 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.
Burghfield Common’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.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 66% of Burghfield Common’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 21% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (57% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 2% of violent and 2% of household crimes reached court.
The latest outcome police.uk shows for each crime recorded in the first of the three years (September 2023 to August 2024), so most cases have closed. 180 crimes.
Burghfield Common places 291st of 628 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 95 | Binfield Berkshire | 4,851 | 17 | 6 | 3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 102 | Cookham Berkshire | 5,216 | 14.1 | 9.4 | 5.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 171 | Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross Berkshire | 7,612 | 19.3 | 7.9 | 5.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 286 | Old Windsor and Wraysbury Berkshire | 7,689 | 20.8 | 11.6 | 6.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 288 | Telscombe Cliffs East Sussex | 4,237 | 24.5 | 8 | 5.4 | B− |
| 289 | Great Denham Bedfordshire | 4,363 | 20.4 | 12.2 | 5 | B− |
| 290 | Handsacre and Armitage Staffordshire | 4,837 | 23.8 | 8.8 | 1.8 | B− |
| 291 | Burghfield Common Berkshire | 6,216 | 20.4 | 12.2 | 12.3 | B− |
| 292 | Shinfield Berkshire | 5,417 | 23.4 | 9.2 | 21.8 | B− |
| 293 | Radcliffe on Trent Nottinghamshire | 7,205 | 22.5 | 10.2 | 9.4 | B− |
| 294 | Barnton Cheshire | 6,245 | 27.4 | 5.3 | 3.3 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 628 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Burghfield Common, and others in Berkshire.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 +2% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +38% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +104% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -1% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Burghfield Common 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 15 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.
Where in Burghfield Common police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 173 | 84% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 28 | 61% anti-social behaviour |
| Car parks | 21 | 67% anti-social behaviour |
police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Burghfield Common. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Burghfield Common’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 14 collisions with injuries inside Burghfield Common in five years. 3 people were killed or seriously injured: 3 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, and Burghfield Common is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Burghfield Common’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Burghfield Common had 3.
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 Burghfield Common’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Burghfield Common
Burghfield Common records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross, 4 miles away, records 19.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Burghfield Common’s 20.4.
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 Burghfield Common 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 Burghfield Common
Is Burghfield Common safe?
Police recorded 20.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Burghfield Common’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 50% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Burghfield Common is 291st from the least crime. 16% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Burghfield Common?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 38%, shoplifting and theft rose 104% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Burghfield Common?
Violence & sexual offences: 129 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (78) and shoplifting (75), with 90 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Burghfield Common compare with Reading?
Reading records 39.6 violent and sexual offences and 15.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Burghfield Common’s 20.4 and 12.2, 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.