Photo: Peter Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0Violent crime per resident is higher in Winsford than in 93% of UK towns
Typical years here bring 49.9 violent and sexual offences plus 10.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Public order: police recorded 329 in Winsford in the 12 months to August 2026, 10.1 per 1,000 residents against 5.4 in a typical town its size. From September 2023 to August 2026, crimes police recorded inside the town’s built-up area put it at D for safety: #43 of 46 in Cheshire. 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 Winsford
More crime than many places its size
Of 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, Winsford has the 145th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Huntingdon, Pontypridd and Worksop, higher than Aldershot, Thetford and Aberdare. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
41% of Winsford’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 7% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Winsford’s D
A firm grade. Built on 5,879 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Winsford against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
41% of Winsford residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
7% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 41% 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.
Winsford’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, Winsford runs highest on public order (10.1 per 1,000 against 5.4), violence & sexual offences (47.7 per 1,000 against 30.4) and drugs (2.6 per 1,000 against 1.9). Vehicle crime and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,550 | 47.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 369 | 11.3 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 329 | 10.1 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 195 | 6 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 165 | 5.1 | 4.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 97 | 3 | 6.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 86 | 2.6 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 81 | 2.5 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 75 | 2.3 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 65 | 2 | 2.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 31 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 11 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 9 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Among 196 towns its size, Winsford ranks 145th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Wilmslow Cheshire | 25,716 | 20.9 | 7.8 | 8.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 96 | Congleton Cheshire | 30,001 | 38.6 | 9.2 | 10 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 142 | Aldershot Hampshire | 39,827 | 43 | 15.8 | 17.1 | D |
| 143 | Thetford Norfolk | 25,502 | 43.9 | 15.7 | 12.4 | D |
| 144 | Aberdare Mid Glamorgan | 37,675 | 46.4 | 13.4 | 9.6 | D |
| 145 | Winsford Cheshire | 32,522 | 49.9 | 10.3 | 7.7 | D |
| 146 | Nelson Lancashire | 33,808 | 44.8 | 15.6 | 13.4 | D |
| 147 | Caerphilly Gwent | 33,104 | 42.1 | 18.6 | 12.5 | D |
| 148 | Newquay Cornwall | 24,543 | 45.9 | 14.8 | 18 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 196 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Winsford, and others in Cheshire.
Crime in Winsford 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 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 +5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +20% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +40% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +26% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in Winsford Gravel, Winsford Dene and Winsford Over & Verdin
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winsford Gravel | 3,419 | 40.8 | 11.3 | |
| Winsford Dene | 5,001 | 43.2 | 10.1 | |
| Winsford Over & Verdin | 14,046 | 49.5 | 8.5 | |
| Winsford Swanlow | 4,416 | 51 | 8.9 | |
| Winsford Wharton | 5,640 | 61.2 | 15.5 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 312 | 45% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 232 | 66% violent |
| Supermarkets | 204 | 29% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 108 | 40% violent |
| Police stations | 82 | 59% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 Winsford. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Winsford’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 67% of Winsford’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 11% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (59% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 10% of violent and 6% 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. 2,150 crimes.
No one died in a collision on Winsford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 135 collisions with injuries inside Winsford in five years. 38 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 13 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Winsford’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Winsford’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Winsford had 23.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 16% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Winsford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Winsford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winsford | 32,522 | 49.9 | 10.3 | D |
| Davenham | 13,840 | 18.5 | 3.4 | A− |
| Middlewich | 14,428 | 35.5 | 9 | C |
| Hartford | 6,698 | 23.6 | 5.2 | B |
| Cuddington | 5,860 | 21.1 | 4.9 | B+ |
| Rudheath | 4,803 | 30.5 | 4.7 | C+ |
| Northwich | 18,646 | 49.4 | 11.7 | D |
| Weaverham | 6,266 | 25.1 | 5.8 | B− |
Winsford records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Northwich records more. Davenham, 3.4 miles away, records 18.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Winsford’s 49.9.
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 Winsford 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 Winsford
Is Winsford safe?
Police recorded 49.9 violent and sexual offences and 10.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Winsford’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 12% of UK towns. Among 196 UK towns of 23,000 to 44,000 people, Winsford is 145th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Winsford?
By council ward, Winsford Gravel, Winsford Dene and Winsford Over & Verdin record the least violent and household crime per resident: 40.8, 43.2 and 49.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 61.2 in Winsford Wharton.
Is crime going up in Winsford?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 20%, shoplifting and theft rose 40% and anti-social behaviour rose 26%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Winsford?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,550 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (329) and criminal damage & arson (195), with 369 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Winsford compare with Crewe?
Crewe records 51.3 violent and sexual offences and 14.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Winsford’s 49.9 and 10.3, 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.