Photo: victuallers2 · CC BY 2.0Breaston and Draycott records shoplifting at 5.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 54% record more crime per resident. Recorded violence held steady in a year. Breaston and Draycott grades B− for safety overall (#15 of 59 in Derbyshire): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The yearly rates were 22.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.2 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage 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 Breaston and Draycott
Less crime than many places its size
Of 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Breaston and Draycott has the 193rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Tadcaster, North Anston and Ingatestone, higher than Cottenham, Marchwood and Adlington. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Breaston and Draycott’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 705 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Breaston and Draycott 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, Breaston and Draycott runs highest on shoplifting (9.6 per 1,000 against 1.8), vehicle crime (3.1 per 1,000 against 2) and public order (4.3 per 1,000 against 3.6). Other theft and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 152 | 20.6 | 22.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 71 | 9.6 | 1.8 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 60 | 8.1 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 32 | 4.3 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 23 | 3.1 | 2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 18 | 2.4 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 14 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 13 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 1.1 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 0.4 | 1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 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.
How Breaston and Draycott’s neighbourhoods rank in England
41% 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.
Breaston and Draycott’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.
Towns its size: Breaston and Draycott comes 193rd of 546
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Merley Dorset | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | 3.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 32 | Wingerworth Derbyshire | 6,404 | 14.9 | 5.6 | 3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | West Hallam Derbyshire | 5,912 | 14.9 | 5.8 | 2.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 99 | Hilton Derbyshire | 8,269 | 19.8 | 5.9 | 3.9 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 164 | Borrowash Derbyshire | 7,171 | 21.4 | 8.6 | 4.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 190 | Cottenham Cambridgeshire | 6,156 | 19.7 | 12 | 4.9 | B− |
| 191 | Marchwood Hampshire | 5,776 | 22.9 | 8.8 | 5.6 | B− |
| 192 | Adlington Lancashire | 8,777 | 22.9 | 8.8 | 5.9 | B− |
| 193 | Breaston and Draycott Derbyshire | 7,393 | 22.6 | 9.2 | 8.6 | B− |
| 194 | Sutton on Sea and Trusthorpe Lincolnshire | 5,042 | 23.5 | 8.3 | 5.2 | B− |
| 195 | Penistone South Yorkshire | 8,541 | 21.4 | 10.5 | 7.5 | B− |
| 196 | Brinsworth South Yorkshire | 8,764 | 18.3 | 13.7 | 7.2 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Breaston and Draycott, and others in Derbyshire.
Police in Breaston and Draycott identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 74% of Breaston and Draycott’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 13% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (59% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 2% of violent and 2% 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. 270 crimes.
How crime in Breaston and Draycott 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 -4% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -22% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +64% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -30% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Breaston and Draycott 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 7 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 12 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Two people died in collisions on Breaston and Draycott’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 23 collisions with injuries inside Breaston and Draycott in five years, in which two people died. 8 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 1 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; Breaston and Draycott’s two people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Breaston and Draycott’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 6 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Breaston and Draycott had 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 Breaston and Draycott’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Breaston and Draycott
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Breaston and Draycott | 7,393 | 22.6 | 9.2 | B− |
| Long Eaton | 37,815 | 37.6 | 12.1 | C− |
| Sandiacre | 9,373 | 33.1 | 9.1 | C |
| Shardlow | 1,190 | 29.1 | 16 | C |
| Borrowash | 7,171 | 21.4 | 8.6 | B |
| Stapleford | 15,041 | 37.2 | 13.9 | C− |
| Aston-on-Trent | 2,433 | 11.2 | 5.1 | A |
| Castle Donington | 7,344 | 21.7 | 12.3 | B− |
Breaston and Draycott records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Borrowash, 2.2 miles away, records 21.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Breaston and Draycott’s 22.6.
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
- 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 Breaston and Draycott 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 Breaston and Draycott
Is Breaston and Draycott safe?
Police recorded 22.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Breaston and Draycott’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 52% of UK towns. Among 546 UK towns of 5,000 to 10,000 people, Breaston and Draycott is 193rd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Breaston and Draycott?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 22%, shoplifting and theft rose 64% and anti-social behaviour fell 30%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Breaston and Draycott?
Violence & sexual offences: 152 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (71) and public order (32), with 60 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Breaston and Draycott compare with Derby?
Derby records 57 violent and sexual offences and 17.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Breaston and Draycott’s 22.6 and 9.2, 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 · 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.