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The Central Hotel, Shotton (geograph 3800291)Photo: El Pollock · CC BY-SA 2.0
DSafety Grade
Safety in Shotton · police.uk, 2023–2026

Per resident, Shotton records more crime than 95% of UK towns

More crime per resident is recorded in 4% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Measured on crimes police recorded inside Shotton’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of D: #34 of 39 in Clwyd. By contrast, violent crime was down 11% in a year. For every 1,000 residents, 57.9 violent and sexual offences and 17.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year.

Violent crime
57.9
per 1,000 residents a year · graded
Homes & vehicles
17.9
burglary, vehicle crime, damage · graded
Shoplifting & theft
31.8
per 1,000 a year · not graded
Anti-social behaviour
30.4
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 Shotton

Violent crime fell over the year

In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% less violent crime per resident in Shotton 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 rose 8% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓

Neighbourhood ranks

73% of Shotton’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of Wales (WIMD 2025 community safety), and 0% 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.

Safety Grade

What’s behind Shotton’s grade

Compared with UK towns its sizeLess crime per resident than 4% 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 (57.9 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 4% of UK towns
Homes and vehicles (17.9 per 1,000 a year, 3-year average)Less crime than 12% of UK towns
D−D

A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,467 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Shotton 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 offences50.9
Anti-social behaviour27.8
Shoplifting23.4
Criminal damage & arson12.2
Public order10
Other theft8.8
Drugs4.3
Vehicle crime2.9
Other crime2.9
Burglary2.8
Bicycle theft1.2
Possession of weapons0.9
Robbery0.6
Theft from the person0
Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Not gradedTypical town its size

Against the typical town its size, Shotton runs highest on shoplifting (23.4 per 1,000 against 1.8), drugs (4.3 per 1,000 against 1) and anti-social behaviour (27.8 per 1,000 against 8.8).

Show as a table
CategoryIn the gradeReportsPer 1,000Typical
Violence & sexual offencesViolent33150.922.4
Anti-social behaviournot graded18127.88.8
Shopliftingnot graded15223.41.8
Criminal damage & arsonHome & vehicle7912.24.5
Public ordernot graded65103.6
Other theftnot graded578.83.2
Drugsnot graded284.31
Vehicle crimeHome & vehicle192.92
Other crimenot graded192.91.5
BurglaryHome & vehicle182.81.9
Bicycle theftnot graded81.20.1
Possession of weaponsViolent60.90.4
RobberyViolent40.60.2
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.

Neighbourhoods · Wales-wide rank

73% of Shotton residents live in one of Wales’s highest-crime neighbourhoods

22%1
51%2
27%3
0%4
0%5
0%6
0%7
0%8
0%9
0%10
Higher crimeLower crime

0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 73% 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.

Shotton’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.

What happened next

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

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

No suspect was identified for 50% of Shotton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 17% 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. 520 crimes.

Towns its size

How Shotton compares with UK towns of 5,000 to 9,000

#TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesShops & theftSafety
1Merley Dorset5,4898.42.83.8A+
…
131Broughton Clwyd6,53221.27.222.2B
…
364Ruthin Clwyd5,70039.89.68.3C−
…
374Abergele Clwyd8,53139.311.611.3C−
…
378Gwersyllt Clwyd7,11238.113.49.7C−
…
455Alfreton Derbyshire8,7905717.220.9D
456Annfield Plain County Durham7,78650.624.510.8D
457Thornton West Yorkshire5,41051.523.725.7D
458Shotton Clwyd6,50057.917.931.8D
459Grimethorpe South Yorkshire5,06547.831.710D−
460Blaenavon Gwent5,63758.223.55.3D−
461Easington County Durham6,96854.527.543.6D−
…
481City 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 Shotton, and others in Clwyd.

1,000 residents · one year

Crime in Shotton per 1,000 residents

Violent (graded)Homes & vehicles (graded)Shoplifting & theft (not graded)
341
violent and sexual offences, 12 months to August 2026
116
homes & vehicles
217
shoplifting & theft
103
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 18 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 33 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

How crime in Shotton 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 -11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +8% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -11% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +2% (towns its size +0%).

Where in Shotton

Where in Shotton police recorded crime

Public places police.uk named crimes and ASB, 3 years
At or nearReportsMostly
Car parks29034% violent
Petrol stations27154% shoplifting & theft
Sports and recreation grounds2236% 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 Shotton. We show only these, never streets or homes.

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

On the roads

No one died in a collision on Shotton’s roads in 2021–2025

Police recorded 28 collisions with injuries inside Shotton in five years. 10 people were killed or seriously injured: 5 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, and Shotton is one of them.

Counting serious injuries too, Shotton had 32.0 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).

0
people killed, 2021–2025
10
killed or seriously injured
5
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 Shotton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.

Neighbours

Crime in the places around Shotton

ABCD
TownPeopleViolentHomes & vehiclesSafety
Shotton6,50057.917.9D
Aston2,84718.27.6B+
Connah's Quay16,76833.310.6C
Garden City2,42766.326.8D−
Hawarden14,28423.57.8B−
Northop Hall1,82616.65.1A−
Buckley13,56229.78.2C+
Broughton6,53221.27.2B

Shotton records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Garden City records more. Aston, 0.9 miles away, records 18.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Shotton’s 57.9.

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 Shotton 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 Shotton

Is Shotton safe?

Police recorded 57.9 violent and sexual offences and 17.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Shotton’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 5% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Shotton has less crime per resident than 4%.

Is crime going up in Shotton?

In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 8%, shoplifting and theft fell 11% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.

What is the most common crime in Shotton?

Violence & sexual offences: 331 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (152) and criminal damage & arson (79), with 181 reports of anti-social behaviour.

How does Shotton compare with Chester?

Chester records 46.9 violent and sexual offences and 10.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Shotton’s 57.9 and 17.9, 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.