Photo: David Howard · CC BY-SA 2.0Fordham records burglary at 3.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime barely moved in a year. Overall, Fordham grades B− for safety (#27 of 50 in Cambridgeshire): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Behind the grade sit 22.2 violent and sexual offences and 11.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Fordham
More crime than many places its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Fordham has the 361st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bassingbourn, Newstead and Ash Green, higher than Cliffe, Bishops Lydeard and Roche. 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. 43% of Fordham’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.
What’s behind Fordham’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 257 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Fordham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A third of Fordham residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
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.
Fordham’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Fordham runs highest on burglary (7 per 1,000 against 1.9), vehicle crime (5.1 per 1,000 against 2) and other theft (3.9 per 1,000 against 3.2). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 58 | 22.6 | 22.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 18 | 7 | 1.9 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 18 | 7 | 8.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 13 | 5.1 | 2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 10 | 3.9 | 3.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 8 | 3.1 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 3.1 | 1.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 6 | 2.3 | 4.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 2.3 | 0.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 5 | 1.9 | 3.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4 | 1.6 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 3 | 1.2 | 0.4 |
| 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.
Fordham places 361st 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Duxford Cambridgeshire | 2,216 | 9.9 | 5 | 1.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 43 | Over Cambridgeshire | 2,898 | 10.8 | 4.6 | 1.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 74 | Coates and Eastrea Cambridgeshire | 2,313 | 14 | 3.6 | 1.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 76 | Bluntisham and Colne Cambridgeshire | 2,790 | 10.5 | 7.2 | 2.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 358 | Cliffe Kent | 2,531 | 22.8 | 10.5 | 2 | B− |
| 359 | Bishops Lydeard Somerset | 2,050 | 24.6 | 8.8 | 3.9 | B− |
| 360 | Roche Cornwall | 2,311 | 27.5 | 5.8 | 5.2 | B− |
| 361 | Fordham Cambridgeshire | 2,566 | 22.2 | 11.2 | 9.7 | B− |
| 362 | Dunchurch Warwickshire | 2,603 | 25.4 | 8.2 | 3.7 | B− |
| 363 | Pucklechurch Gloucestershire | 2,702 | 23.6 | 10.1 | 3 | B− |
| 364 | Padstow Cornwall | 2,351 | 25 | 8.7 | 10.8 | 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 Fordham, and others in Cambridgeshire.
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%), shoplifting and theft -27% (towns its size +2%).
Crime in Fordham 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 9 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Fordham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 15 collisions with injuries inside Fordham in five years. 6 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 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 Fordham is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Fordham’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; Fordham had 6.
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 Fordham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Fordham
Fordham records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Isleham, 2.4 miles away, records 16.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Fordham’s 22.2.
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 Fordham 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 Fordham
Is Fordham safe?
Police recorded 22.2 violent and sexual offences and 11.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Fordham’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 48% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Fordham is 361st from the least crime. 43% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Fordham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 118%, shoplifting and theft fell 27% and anti-social behaviour rose 29%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Fordham?
Violence & sexual offences: 58 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came burglary (18) and vehicle crime (13), with 18 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.