Photo: Lewis Clarke · CC BY-SA 2.0No grade for Ashford, but its recorded crime is here
There is no Safety Grade for Ashford, but the crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026 are here. With under 1,000 residents, Ashford is too small to grade: a few incidents would move its rate a long way. Annual rates stand at 13.5 violent and sexual offences and 8.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Ashford
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 100% of Ashford’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.
Crime in Ashford 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 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 13 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
3 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 6 the year before
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 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).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 4 | 13.5 | 3.2 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 3 | 10.1 | 16.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 3 | 10.1 | 2.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 6.7 | 1.1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1 | 3.4 | 0 |
| Public order | not graded | 1 | 3.4 | 2.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 0 | 0 | 5.3 |
“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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
Crime in the places around Ashford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ashford | 297 | 13.5 | 8.6 | — |
| Bickington | 2,105 | 17.8 | 5.7 | B+ |
| Chivenor and Wrafton | 1,953 | 20.5 | 3.4 | B+ |
| Barnstaple | 31,271 | 48 | 14.6 | D |
| Fremington | 5,229 | 15.6 | 4.7 | A− |
| Braunton | 6,610 | 17.3 | 7.8 | B+ |
| Landkey | 2,001 | 13.3 | 4 | A |
| Appledore | 1,711 | 18.1 | 9.8 | B |
Ashford records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Fremington, 2.5 miles away, records 15.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Ashford’s 13.5.
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 Ashford 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 Ashford
Is Ashford safe?
Police recorded 13.5 violent and sexual offences and 8.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Ashford’s built-up area). 100% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Ashford?
Police recorded 3 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 6 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Ashford?
Criminal damage & arson: 4 in the 12 months to August 2026. Next came violence & sexual offences (3) and other theft (3), with 0 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Ashford compare with Barnstaple?
Barnstaple records 48 violent and sexual offences and 14.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Ashford’s 13.5 and 8.6, 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) · 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.