Photo: Tim Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Alston stands out for public order: 4.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, it records less crime per resident than 6%. Violent crime was up 46% in a year. Police counts work out at 45.9 violent and sexual offences and 9.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Alston
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 46% more violent crime per resident in Alston than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Alston grades C− for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 180 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Alston against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Alston has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 +46% (towns its size +3%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Alston runs highest on public order (10.2 per 1,000 against 2.4) and violence & sexual offences (54.9 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 59 | 54.9 | 16.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 12 | 11.2 | 0 |
| Public order | not graded | 11 | 10.2 | 2.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 8 | 7.4 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 3 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.9 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1 | 0.9 | 5.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
“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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How Alston compares with UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 61 | Allithwaite Cumbria | 1,171 | 8.3 | 2.9 | 1.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 64 | Scotby Cumbria | 1,830 | 8.9 | 2.4 | 1.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | High Harrington Cumbria | 1,574 | 10 | 1.7 | 1.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 107 | Levens Cumbria | 1,020 | 9.8 | 2.9 | 2.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1136 | Collingtree and Milton Malsor Northamptonshire | 1,514 | 39.9 | 15 | 50.9 | C− |
| 1137 | Jump South Yorkshire | 1,424 | 37.5 | 17.6 | 4 | C− |
| 1138 | Ticehurst East Sussex | 1,464 | 43.3 | 12.5 | 5.2 | C− |
| 1139 | Alston Cumbria | 1,075 | 45.9 | 9.9 | 14.9 | C− |
| 1140 | Aberporth Dyfed | 1,075 | 47.1 | 8.7 | 2.8 | C− |
| 1141 | Leeming Bar North Yorkshire | 1,063 | 36.7 | 19.5 | 15.4 | C− |
| 1142 | Llanfyllin Powys | 1,118 | 46.3 | 10.1 | 4.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Alston, and others in Cumbria.
Crime in Alston 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 14 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Where in Alston police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 47 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Hospitals | 31 | 61% violent |
| Petrol stations | 31 | 32% 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 Alston. 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 Alston’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4 collisions with injuries inside Alston in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Alston is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Alston’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Alston had 1.
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 Alston’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Alston
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alston | 1,075 | 45.9 | 9.9 | C− |
| Haltwhistle | 3,646 | 25.8 | 9.2 | C+ |
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 Alston 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 Alston
Is Alston safe?
Police recorded 45.9 violent and sexual offences and 9.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Alston’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 15% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Alston has less crime per resident than 6%.
Is crime going up in Alston?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 46%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 10%, shoplifting and theft fell 12% and anti-social behaviour fell 83%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Alston?
Violence & sexual offences: 59 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (12) and public order (11), with 1 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.