Crime in Lower Padworth: the figures, without a grade
Lower Padworth has no Safety Grade, though police recorded crimes inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. With under 1,000 residents, Lower Padworth is too small to grade: a few incidents would move its rate a long way. Typical years here bring 39.8 violent and sexual offences plus 30.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Violent crime
39.8
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
30.9
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
10.1
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
4.4
reports per 1,000 a year · not graded
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
By type
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Violence & sexual offences36
Criminal damage & arson22.7
Vehicle crime17
Drugs13.3
Other theft7.6
Other crime5.7
Shoplifting3.8
Public order3.8
Burglary3.8
Robbery3.8
Anti-social behaviour1.9
Bicycle theft0
Possession of weapons0
Theft from the person0
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size
Against the typical town its size, Lower Padworth runs highest on criminal damage & arson (22.7 per 1,000 against 3.2) and violence & sexual offences (36 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
Category
In the grade
Reports
Per 1,000
Typical
Violence & sexual offences
Violent
19
36
16.6
Criminal damage & arson
Home & vehicle
12
22.7
3.2
Vehicle crime
Home & vehicle
9
17
1.5
Drugs
not graded
7
13.3
0.6
Other theft
not graded
4
7.6
2.5
Other crime
not graded
3
5.7
1.1
Shoplifting
not graded
2
3.8
0
Public order
not graded
2
3.8
2.4
Burglary
Home & vehicle
2
3.8
1.6
Robbery
Violent
2
3.8
0
Anti-social behaviour
not graded
1
1.9
5.3
Bicycle theft
not graded
0
0
0
Possession of weapons
Violent
0
0
0
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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
23
homes & vehicles
6
shoplifting & theft
95
of the three, per 1,000
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 44 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 11 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Trend · monthly
21 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 16 the year before
Violent crime per 1,000 a year
Lower PadworthUK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people
Homes & vehicles per 1,000 a year
Lower PadworthUK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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).
Lower Padworth records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Burghfield Common, 2.8 miles away, records 20.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Lower Padworth’s 39.8.
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
How to read these numbers
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 Lower Padworth 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 Lower Padworth
Is Lower Padworth safe?
Police recorded 39.8 violent and sexual offences and 30.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Lower Padworth’s built-up area).
Is crime going up in Lower Padworth?
Police recorded 21 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 16 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Lower Padworth?
Violence & sexual offences: 19 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (12) and vehicle crime (9), with 1 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Lower Padworth 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 Lower Padworth’s 39.8 and 30.9, 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) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0