Photo: Derek Voller · CC BY-SA 2.0Violent crime per resident is higher in Helston than in 67% of UK towns
The grade is C+, built on crimes police recorded inside Helston’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #13 of 35 in Cornwall. Still, for its size, it sits below 63% of the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people on crime per resident. Violence recorded locally climbed 16% in a year. Out of every 1,000 residents, 29.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.8 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are reported annually.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Helston
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 16% more violent crime per resident in Helston than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 24% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 393 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, Helston has the 180th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than West End, Raunds and Ecclesfield and Grenoside, higher than North Walsham, Whiteley and Byfleet. 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. 37% of Helston’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% 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.
Inside Helston’s C+ for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,293 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Helston against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A third of Helston residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
37% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Helston’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.
How crime in Helston has moved
Devon & Cornwall Police published three months short or not at all (Sep 2023, Oct 2023 and Nov 2023), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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 +16% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -24% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +0% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -31% (towns its size -4%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Helston runs highest on other theft (5 per 1,000 against 4.4). Other crime and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 355 | 31.2 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 124 | 10.9 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 76 | 6.7 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 57 | 5 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 55 | 4.8 | 5.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 37 | 3.3 | 6.1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 17 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 11 | 1 | 2.4 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 10 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 0.6 | 2.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 0.5 | 1.9 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 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.
Crime in Helston 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 8 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.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 66% of Helston’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” (66% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 11% 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. 394 crimes.
Towns its size: Helston comes 180th of 393
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 77 | Penryn Cornwall | 11,194 | 21.6 | 8.7 | 11 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 177 | North Walsham Norfolk | 12,829 | 31.2 | 8 | 8.1 | C+ |
| 178 | Whiteley Hampshire | 9,350 | 29.3 | 10 | 13.3 | C+ |
| 179 | Byfleet Surrey | 14,187 | 25.2 | 14.1 | 13.3 | C+ |
| 180 | Helston Cornwall | 11,366 | 29.6 | 9.8 | 7.7 | C+ |
| 181 | Halstead Essex | 13,902 | 28.8 | 10.7 | 12 | C+ |
| 182 | Driffield East Riding of Yorkshire | 13,216 | 31.1 | 8.3 | 7 | C+ |
| 183 | Ross-on-Wye Herefordshire | 10,993 | 28.4 | 11 | 17.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 285 | Hayle Cornwall | 9,040 | 36.7 | 15.3 | 16.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 317 | Launceston Cornwall | 8,431 | 45.9 | 13.1 | 15.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 344 | Pool and Illogan Cornwall | 8,588 | 50.4 | 16.8 | 19.7 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 393 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Helston, and others in Cornwall.
Where in Helston police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 134 | 31% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 43 | 42% violent |
| Car parks | 32 | 38% violent |
| Petrol stations | 24 | 58% shoplifting & theft |
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 Helston. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Helston’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 41 collisions with injuries inside Helston in five years. 12 people were killed or seriously injured: 3 on foot and 0 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 Helston’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Helston’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Helston had 21.1 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).
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 Helston’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Helston
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Helston | 11,366 | 29.6 | 9.8 | C+ |
| Porthleven | 3,118 | 24.6 | 5.7 | B |
| Mullion | 2,148 | 22.2 | 6.9 | B |
| Troon | 1,402 | 49.8 | 9.3 | D |
| Reawla | 1,117 | 20.8 | 4.2 | B+ |
| Four Lanes | 1,579 | 21.4 | 5.5 | B |
| Stithians | 1,613 | 17.8 | 5 | A− |
| Mawnan Smith | 1,001 | 8 | 1.5 | A+ |
Helston records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Troon records more. Porthleven, 2.3 miles away, records 24.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Helston’s 29.6.
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
- Some months are short. Devon & Cornwall Police published September 2023, October 2023 and November 2023 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Helston 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 Helston
Is Helston safe?
Police recorded 29.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Helston’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 36% of UK towns. Among 393 UK towns of 8,000 to 15,000 people, Helston is 180th from the least crime. 37% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Helston?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 16%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 24%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 31%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Helston?
Violence & sexual offences: 355 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (76) and other theft (57), with 124 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Helston compare with Falmouth?
Falmouth records 29.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Helston’s 29.6 and 9.8, 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.