Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0Holywell has more crime per resident than 94% of UK towns
More crime per resident is recorded in 5% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. That puts it at D for safety, judged on crimes police recorded inside Holywell’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #32 of 39 in Clwyd. Violence recorded locally dropped 8% in a year. Year on year, 52.1 violent and sexual offences and 21.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Holywell
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 8% less violent crime per resident in Holywell than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 37% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
58% of Holywell’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of Wales (WIMD 2025 community safety), and 15% 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’s behind Holywell’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 1,703 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Holywell 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, Holywell runs highest on shoplifting (14.5 per 1,000 against 1.8), anti-social behaviour (22.9 per 1,000 against 8.8) and criminal damage & arson (11.1 per 1,000 against 4.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 370 | 47.8 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 177 | 22.9 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 112 | 14.5 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 86 | 11.1 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 61 | 7.9 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 60 | 7.8 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 19 | 2.5 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 16 | 2.1 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 15 | 1.9 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 10 | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 0.8 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
“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.
58% of Holywell residents live in one of Wales’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
15% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 58% 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.
Holywell’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.
How Holywell compares with UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 139 | Broughton Clwyd | 6,532 | 21.2 | 7.2 | 22.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 392 | Brynteg Clwyd | 9,229 | 34.6 | 13.5 | 4.8 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 405 | Ruthin Clwyd | 5,700 | 39.8 | 9.6 | 8.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 415 | Abergele Clwyd | 8,531 | 39.3 | 11.6 | 11.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 504 | Bargod Gwent | 8,034 | 52.4 | 18.8 | 12.5 | D |
| 505 | Crook County Durham | 9,717 | 45.4 | 26 | 13.1 | D |
| 506 | Wingate County Durham | 5,033 | 37.8 | 35.4 | 20.1 | D |
| 507 | Holywell Clwyd | 7,741 | 52.1 | 21.2 | 18.4 | D |
| 508 | Ammanford Dyfed | 8,282 | 56.7 | 16.9 | 13 | D |
| 509 | Clay Cross Derbyshire | 8,915 | 58.7 | 14.9 | 16.1 | D |
| 510 | Glastonbury Somerset | 8,304 | 57.1 | 17.1 | 32.1 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 546 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Holywell, and others in Clwyd.
Crime in Holywell 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 16 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 23 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Whitford, Holywell East and Holywell West; highest in Holywell Central
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitford | 1,162 | 8.3 | 3.2 | |
| Holywell East | 1,439 | 37.3 | 8.3 | |
| Holywell West | 2,442 | 43.4 | 11.3 | |
| Greenfield | 615 | 35.2 | 21.1 | |
| Holywell Central | 2,083 | 101.9 | 51.8 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 126 | 38% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 112 | 69% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 104 | 52% violent |
| Supermarkets | 47 | 34% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Holywell Central records 3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Holywell. 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 Holywell. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Holywell’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How crime in Holywell has moved
“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 -8% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -37% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +38% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -32% (towns its size +0%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 71% of Holywell’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 15% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 4% 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. 610 crimes.
One person died in collisions on Holywell’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 29 collisions with injuries inside Holywell in five years, in which one person died. 10 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 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; Holywell’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Holywell had 25.1 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).
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 Holywell’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Holywell
Holywell records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Bagillt, 1.5 miles away, records 39.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Holywell’s 52.1.
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 Holywell 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 Holywell
Is Holywell safe?
Police recorded 52.1 violent and sexual offences and 21.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Holywell’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 6% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Holywell has less crime per resident than 5%.
What are the safest areas of Holywell?
By council ward, Whitford, Holywell East and Holywell West record the least violent and household crime per resident: 8.3, 37.3 and 43.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 101.9 in Holywell Central.
Is crime going up in Holywell?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 8%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 37%, shoplifting and theft rose 38% and anti-social behaviour fell 32%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Holywell?
Violence & sexual offences: 370 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (112) and criminal damage & arson (86), with 177 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Holywell compare with Heswall?
Heswall records 14.3 violent and sexual offences and 5.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Holywell’s 52.1 and 21.2, 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.