Photo: Cmglee · CC BY-SA 3.0Orwell records less violent crime per head than 92% of UK towns
For its size, it sits below 71% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people on crime per resident. In a usual year, 10.5 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. Taking everything together, Orwell scores A: less crime per resident than 85% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Orwell
Less crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Orwell has the 377th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Spofforth, Beer and Chedgrave, higher than Hauxton, Scarcroft and Hambleton. 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. 100% of Orwell’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 A for Orwell, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 66 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Orwell against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Crime in Orwell 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 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 1 shoplifting and theft report, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Of 1,214 towns its size, Orwell is 377th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 74 | Great Paxton Cambridgeshire | 1,003 | 5.7 | 6 | 1.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 123 | Hilton Cambridgeshire | 1,052 | 7.6 | 6 | 1.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 202 | Northborough Cambridgeshire | 1,336 | 8.2 | 7.2 | 2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 304 | Haslingfield Cambridgeshire | 1,535 | 11.1 | 6.7 | 1.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 374 | Hauxton Cambridgeshire | 1,322 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 3 | A |
| 375 | Scarcroft West Yorkshire | 1,634 | 10.8 | 8.4 | 2.5 | A |
| 376 | Hambleton North Yorkshire | 1,722 | 15.1 | 4.1 | 1.5 | A |
| 377 | Orwell Cambridgeshire | 1,147 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 2 | A |
| 378 | Modbury Devon | 1,687 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 4.3 | A |
| 379 | Houghton Cambridgeshire | 1,368 | 13.2 | 6.1 | 3.9 | A− |
| 380 | Shaldon Devon | 1,717 | 13.1 | 6.1 | 3.4 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Orwell, and others in Cambridgeshire.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 14 | 12.2 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 9 | 7.8 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 7 | 6.1 | 2.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 5 | 4.4 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1 | 0.9 | 2.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | 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.
15 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 10 the year before
“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).
No one died in a collision on Orwell’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 1 collision with injuries inside Orwell in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Orwell is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Orwell’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Orwell had 0.
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 Orwell’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Orwell
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orwell | 1,147 | 10.5 | 8.7 | A |
| Barrington | 1,184 | 17.5 | 12.7 | B |
| Meldreth | 1,823 | 22.2 | 11.5 | B− |
| Haslingfield | 1,535 | 11.1 | 6.7 | A |
| Foxton | 1,275 | 23.8 | 9.7 | B− |
| Melbourn | 4,907 | 17.6 | 9.8 | B |
| Bassingbourn | 2,353 | 24.5 | 9.4 | B− |
| Comberton | 2,255 | 15.7 | 10.1 | B+ |
Orwell records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 7 neighbours. Haslingfield, 3.1 miles away, records 11.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Orwell’s 10.5.
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 Orwell 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 Orwell
Is Orwell safe?
Police recorded 10.5 violent and sexual offences and 8.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Orwell’s built-up area). That earns an A for safety: less crime per resident than 85% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Orwell is 377th from the least crime. 100% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Orwell?
Police recorded 15 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 10 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Orwell?
Violence & sexual offences: 14 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (7) and criminal damage & arson (5), with 9 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Orwell compare with Cambridge?
Cambridge records 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 16.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Orwell’s 10.5 and 8.7, 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.