Photo: Stephen Craven · CC BY-SA 2.0For violent crime, Warrington trails 83% of UK towns per resident
Set against the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, it has less crime per resident than 80% of them. For every 1,000 residents, 38.8 violent and sexual offences and 10.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year. Violence recorded locally held about level in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Warrington
One ward carries much of the rate
Bewsey and Whitecross ward, where 34% of Warrington’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 4,745 of Warrington’s 20,328 violent and sexual offences in three years: 130.4 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Warrington the figure is 31.9. Where in Warrington ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 39 UK towns and cities of 122,000 to 236,000 people, Warrington has the 7th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Watford, York and Luton, higher than Poole, Sutton and Swindon. 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. 14% of Warrington’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 24% 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 grade: C− for Warrington
A firm grade. Built on 25,603 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Warrington against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Lowest recorded crime in Penketh and Cuerdley, Grappenhall and Lymm North and Thelwall; highest in Bewsey and Whitecross
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Penketh and Cuerdley | 9,762 | 13.2 | 2.7 | |
| Grappenhall | 5,306 | 13.1 | 4.1 | |
| Lymm North and Thelwall | 5,057 | 14.4 | 4.4 | |
| Poulton South | 6,438 | 15.9 | 3.8 | |
| Great Sankey North and Whittle Hall | 10,235 | 16.4 | 4 | |
| Stockton Heath | 6,712 | 15.5 | 6.1 | |
| Appleton | 9,219 | 16.6 | 5.8 | |
| Westbrook | 6,438 | 19.7 | 7.9 | |
| Chapelford and Old Hall | 12,011 | 22.6 | 5.2 | |
| Rixton and Woolston | 7,212 | 19.8 | 9.5 | |
| Poulton North | 9,708 | 23 | 6.8 | |
| Great Sankey South | 11,301 | 31 | 6.6 | |
| Birchwood | 10,611 | 32.6 | 8.9 | |
| Latchford West | 7,265 | 34.9 | 11.8 | |
| Latchford East | 8,524 | 51.1 | 15.6 | |
| Orford | 11,962 | 53.3 | 14.1 | |
| Culcheth, Glazebury and Croft | 1,052 | 59.3 | 8.6 | |
| Fairfield and Howley | 11,849 | 58.3 | 15.5 | |
| Poplars and Hulme | 12,177 | 69.9 | 15.4 | |
| Bewsey and Whitecross | 12,129 | 130.4 | 28.2 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Shopping areas | 1,800 | 37% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 1,459 | 54% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 1,294 | 36% violent |
| Nightclubs | 620 | 57% violent |
| Hospitals | 554 | 65% violent |
| Petrol stations | 553 | 37% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 298 | 45% drugs, public order & other |
| Prisons | 248 | 74% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 136 | 42% violent |
| College and university buildings | 110 | 46% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Bewsey and Whitecross records 4.1× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Warrington. 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 Warrington. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Warrington’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Warrington runs highest on public order (9.1 per 1,000 against 7.4). Shoplifting and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 6,479 | 37 | 38.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,587 | 9.1 | 7.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,155 | 6.6 | 17.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 889 | 5.1 | 7.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 839 | 4.8 | 6.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 749 | 4.3 | 10.3 |
| Drugs | not graded | 610 | 3.5 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 475 | 2.7 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 420 | 2.4 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 340 | 1.9 | 2.1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 166 | 0.9 | 0.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 139 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 87 | 0.5 | 1.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 33 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Warrington is 7th of 39 UK towns of 122,000 to 236,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames London | 192,888 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 15.9 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 4 | Poole Dorset | 141,009 | 26.2 | 14.4 | 12.5 | C |
| 5 | Sutton London | 208,858 | 27.1 | 14.6 | 13.3 | C |
| 6 | Swindon Wiltshire | 183,687 | 35.7 | 12.3 | 13.8 | C− |
| 7 | Warrington Cheshire | 174,968 | 38.8 | 10.1 | 10.8 | C− |
| 8 | Kingswood and Fishponds Gloucestershire | 160,280 | 36 | 13.4 | 15.2 | C− |
| 9 | Oxford Oxfordshire | 170,799 | 37 | 15.1 | 32.3 | C− |
| 10 | Cambridge Cambridgeshire | 152,742 | 35.3 | 16.9 | 36.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 39 | Westminster London | 203,571 | 81.4 | 42.3 | 254.6 | 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 Warrington, and others in Cheshire.
Crime in Warrington 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 10 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police in Warrington identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 63% of Warrington’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 11% of violent and 8% 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. 8,718 crimes.
1 in 7 Warrington residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
39% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 24% 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.
Warrington’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.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -1% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles +9% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +3% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour +5% (towns its size -2%).
Four people died in collisions on Warrington’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 994 collisions with injuries inside Warrington in five years, in which four people died (2 were pedestrians). 235 people were killed or seriously injured: 62 on foot and 61 on a bicycle.
That is fewer than is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Warrington’s size would see about 10 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Warrington’s own rate (0.5) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Warrington had 26.9 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 26% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Warrington’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Warrington
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warrington | 174,968 | 38.8 | 10.1 | C− |
| Winwick | 2,062 | 79.2 | 13.1 | D− |
| Croft | 1,520 | 11.6 | 4 | A |
| Burtonwood | 3,504 | 20.9 | 5.8 | B+ |
| Appleton Thorn | 1,372 | 16.3 | 6.8 | A− |
| Newton-le-Willows | 24,651 | 40.6 | 13.5 | C− |
| Lymm | 11,547 | 16.2 | 6.2 | A− |
| Culcheth | 6,722 | 17.5 | 5.1 | A− |
Warrington records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Winwick and Newton-le-Willows record more. Croft, 3.1 miles away, records 11.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Warrington’s 38.8.
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
- A prison inside the boundary. police.uk counted 248 at or near a prison (74% violent) and 554 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Warrington’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Warrington 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 Warrington
Is Warrington safe?
Police recorded 38.8 violent and sexual offences and 10.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Warrington’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 23% of UK towns. Among 39 UK towns of 122,000 to 236,000 people, Warrington is 7th from the least crime. 14% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Warrington?
By council ward, Penketh and Cuerdley, Grappenhall and Lymm North and Thelwall record the least violent and household crime per resident: 13.2, 13.1 and 14.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 130.4 in Bewsey and Whitecross.
Is crime going up in Warrington?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 9%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 5%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Warrington city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 620 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 57% of them violent, and Bewsey and Whitecross ward records 130.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in March and was lowest in November.
What is the most common crime in Warrington?
Violence & sexual offences: 6,479 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (1,587) and criminal damage & arson (889), with 1,155 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.