Photo: John Sutton · CC BY-SA 2.0Witchford records other theft at 14.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
The overall Safety Grade is C+, which means close to the middle of UK towns, judged on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. It has less crime per resident than 25% of the UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, 1,541 in all. Recorded violence fell 15% in a year. Out of every 1,000 residents, 24.2 violent and sexual offences and 10.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Witchford
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 15% less violent crime per resident in Witchford than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Witchford has the 376th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Wheelock, Stowupland and Rowlands Castle, higher than Linton, Charing and Upper Halliford. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Witchford’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 251 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Witchford 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, Witchford runs highest on other theft (36.9 per 1,000 against 2.5), anti-social behaviour (18.9 per 1,000 against 5.3) and burglary (4.6 per 1,000 against 1.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other theft | not graded | 88 | 36.9 | 2.5 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 51 | 21.4 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 45 | 18.9 | 5.3 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 11 | 4.6 | 1.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 8 | 3.4 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 8 | 3.4 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 2.5 | 1.1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 5 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | 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.
How crime in Witchford has moved
“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). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -15% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles -4% (towns its size +0%), anti-social behaviour +61% (towns its size -1%).
Witchford places 376th 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 |
| … | ||||||
| 373 | Linton Derbyshire | 2,145 | 23.9 | 10.9 | 3 | B− |
| 374 | Charing Kent | 2,170 | 21.5 | 13.4 | 5.1 | B− |
| 375 | Upper Halliford Surrey | 2,337 | 23.7 | 11.3 | 4.3 | B− |
| 376 | Witchford Cambridgeshire | 2,386 | 24.2 | 10.9 | 18 | C+ |
| 377 | Tisbury Wiltshire | 2,274 | 26.7 | 8.4 | 5.2 | C+ |
| 378 | Lindford Hampshire | 2,740 | 26.4 | 9 | 4 | C+ |
| 379 | Watlington Oxfordshire | 2,438 | 24.1 | 11.4 | 5.6 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Witchford, and others in Cambridgeshire.
Crime in Witchford 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 37 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 Witchford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 6 collisions with injuries inside Witchford in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Witchford is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Witchford’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Witchford had 1.
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 Witchford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Witchford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Witchford | 2,386 | 24.2 | 10.9 | C+ |
| Ely | 19,185 | 25.5 | 11.3 | C+ |
| Stretham | 2,070 | 13.7 | 12.1 | B+ |
| Haddenham | 3,050 | 16.2 | 8.1 | B+ |
| Little Downham | 1,234 | 13.5 | 5.4 | A |
| Sutton | 3,880 | 18 | 8.2 | B+ |
| Littleport | 9,170 | 32 | 13.3 | C |
| Soham | 10,609 | 24.8 | 8.8 | B− |
Witchford records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Ely and Littleport record more. Stretham, 2.8 miles away, records 13.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Witchford’s 24.2.
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 Witchford 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 Witchford
Is Witchford safe?
Police recorded 24.2 violent and sexual offences and 10.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Witchford’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 44% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Witchford is 376th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Witchford?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 15%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 368% and anti-social behaviour rose 61%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Witchford?
Other theft: 88 in the 12 months to August 2026. Next came violence & sexual offences (51) and burglary (11), with 45 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.