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View from the North-Eastern Tower of Denbigh Town WallsPhoto: Jeff Buck · CC BY-SA 2.0
DSafety Grade
Safety in Denbigh · police.uk, 2023–2026

Recorded crime per resident is higher in Denbigh than in 89% of UK towns

Counting crimes police recorded inside Denbigh’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades D for safety: #28 of 39 in Clwyd. The typical town its size sees 1.8 cases of shoplifting per 1,000 residents; Denbigh sees 6.6, or 53 in the 12 months to August 2026. Violent crime barely moved in a year. Out of every 1,000 residents, 49.5 violent and sexual offences and 12.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually.

Violent crime
49.5
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
12.7
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
14.8
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
23.7
reports per 1,000 a year · not graded

Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.

What stands out · In brief

What stands out about safety in Denbigh

More crime than many places its size

Of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Denbigh has the 380th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Brecon, Rishton and Chadwell St Mary, higher than Berechurch, Immingham and Hetton-le-Hole. Towns its size ↓

Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime in Wales

The Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025 ranks every neighbourhood in Wales on community safety. 18% of Denbigh’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 41% 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.

Safety Grade

Denbigh: D for safety, and why

Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 8% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people: more crime than most for its size. Context only, not part of the grade.
Violent and sexual offences (49.5 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 7% of UK towns
Homes and vehicles (12.7 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 29% of UK towns
DD

A firm grade. Built on 1,506 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Denbigh against every UK town of 1,000 or more.

Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.

By type

What police recorded in the last 12 months

Violence & sexual offences48.3
Anti-social behaviour20.4
Public order9.2
Criminal damage & arson6.8
Shoplifting6.6
Other theft5.9
Other crime2.7
Burglary1.9
Drugs1.6
Possession of weapons1.4
Vehicle crime0.7
Bicycle theft0.5
Robbery0.2
Theft from the person0
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size

Against the typical town its size, Denbigh runs highest on shoplifting (6.6 per 1,000 against 1.8), possession of weapons (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.4) and public order (9.2 per 1,000 against 3.6).

Show as a table
CategoryIn the gradeReportsPer 1,000Typical
Violence & sexual offencesViolent39048.322.4
Anti-social behaviournot graded16520.48.8
Public ordernot graded749.23.6
Criminal damage & arsonHome & vehicle556.84.5
Shopliftingnot graded536.61.8
Other theftnot graded485.93.2
Other crimenot graded222.71.5
BurglaryHome & vehicle151.91.9
Drugsnot graded131.61
Possession of weaponsViolent111.40.4
Vehicle crimeHome & vehicle60.72
Bicycle theftnot graded40.50.1
RobberyViolent20.20.2
Theft from the personnot graded000

“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.

What happened next

Police in Denbigh identify a suspect more often than across UK towns

Violent crime
Denbigh
All UK towns
Homes & vehicles
Denbigh
All UK towns
Went to courtSuspect identified, unable to prosecuteNo suspect identifiedCaution, local resolution, otherStill open

No suspect was identified for 51% of Denbigh’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 16% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (62% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 15% 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. 544 crimes.

Neighbourhoods · Wales-wide rank

1 in 6 Denbigh residents lives in one of Wales’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods

17%1
24%2
8%3
0%4
0%5
0%6
0%7
33%8
0%9
18%10
Higher crimeLower crime

51% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 41% in the highest-crime 20%. The community safety domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and fire incidents where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.

Denbigh’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025 (community safety domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Wales’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.

Towns its size

Set against 430 towns its size, Denbigh is 380th

#TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesShops & theftSafety
1Barton on Sea Hampshire6,7639.653.1A
…
100Broughton Clwyd6,53221.27.222.2B
…
313Brynteg Clwyd9,22934.613.54.8C−
…
330Abergele Clwyd8,53139.311.611.3C−
…
333Gwersyllt Clwyd7,11238.113.49.7C−
…
377Berechurch Essex7,70246.313.35.6D
378Immingham Lincolnshire9,77042.816.914D
379Hetton-le-Hole Tyne and Wear8,96836.525.68D
380Denbigh Clwyd8,07249.512.714.8D
381Darfield South Yorkshire7,2093824.47.4D
382Brandon County Durham9,50843.5199.6D
383Horbury West Yorkshire9,86847.315.39.2D
…
430City of London London7,820252.8111.5710D−

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 Denbigh, and others in Clwyd.

1,000 residents · one year

Crime in Denbigh per 1,000 residents

Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Shoplifting & theft (not graded)
403
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
76
homes & vehicles
105
shoplifting & theft
72
of the three, per 1,000

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 13 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.

Trend · monthly

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 +5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -23% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -23% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -22% (towns its size +0%).

Where in Denbigh

Where in Denbigh police recorded crime

Public places police.uk named crimes and ASB, 3 years
At or nearReportsMostly
Supermarkets15576% shoplifting & theft
Car parks12540% violent
Petrol stations4825% violent
Sports and recreation grounds2966% violent
Hospitals2438% anti-social behaviour
College and university buildings2241% violent

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 Denbigh. We show only these, never streets or homes.

Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.

On the roads

One person died in collisions on Denbigh’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 22 collisions with injuries inside Denbigh in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 12 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.

Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Denbigh’s one death is context, not a ranking.

Counting serious injuries too, Denbigh had 29.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).

1
people killed, 2021–2025
12
killed or seriously injured
4
of them on foot
2
of them on a bicycle

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 Denbigh’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Denbigh

ABCD
TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesSafety
Denbigh8,07249.512.7D
St Asaph3,48339.312.5C−
Ruthin5,70039.89.6C−
Bodelwyddan1,78599.515.9D−
Rhuddlan3,79135.47.4C
Dyserth2,03827.35.6B−
Meliden2,00238.58.2C
Kinmel Bay9,01661.615.2D−

Denbigh records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Bodelwyddan and Kinmel Bay record more. St Asaph, 5.2 miles away, records 39.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Denbigh’s 49.5.

Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.

How to read these numbers

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 Denbigh 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 Denbigh

Is Denbigh safe?

Police recorded 49.5 violent and sexual offences and 12.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Denbigh’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 11% of UK towns. Among 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Denbigh is 380th from the least crime. 18% of residents live in neighbourhoods in Wales’s lowest-crime 10%.

Is crime going up in Denbigh?

In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 23%, shoplifting and theft fell 23% and anti-social behaviour fell 22%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.

What is the most common crime in Denbigh?

Violence & sexual offences: 390 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (74) and criminal damage & arson (55), with 165 reports of anti-social behaviour.

How does Denbigh compare with Rhyl?

Rhyl records 89.1 violent and sexual offences and 22.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Denbigh’s 49.5 and 12.7, 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 · Welsh Government Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025, community safety domain by LSOA · 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.