Photo: Mike Crowe · CC BY-SA 2.0Heathfield stands out for other theft: 4.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Other theft runs at 12 per 1,000 residents in Heathfield, against 2.5 in a typical town its size: police recorded 18 in the 12 months to August 2026. Overall, it grades C for safety.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Heathfield
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 22% more violent crime per resident in Heathfield than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Heathfield has the 1,059th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than New Arley, Beaumaris and Sandridge, higher than Wrotham, Llandovery and Mistley. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Heathfield grades C for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A fairly firm grade. Built on 185 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Heathfield against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
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.
Against the typical town its size, Heathfield runs highest on other theft (12 per 1,000 against 2.5), criminal damage & arson (8 per 1,000 against 3.2) and violence & sexual offences (39.4 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 59 | 39.4 | 16.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 18 | 12 | 2.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 12 | 8 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 11 | 7.4 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 8 | 5.3 | 2.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 7 | 4.7 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 3.3 | 1.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 3.3 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 2 | 0 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.3 | 1.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 1.3 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 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.
Violent crime up 22% in a year, while towns its size held steady
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 +22% (towns its size +3%).
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).
Heathfield is 1,059th of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Heathfield, and others in Devon.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 16 | Exton Devon | 1,287 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 4.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 19 | Morchard Bishop Devon | 1,041 | 5.9 | 1.8 | 1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 60 | Abbotskerswell Devon | 1,182 | 6.2 | 4.9 | 0.6 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 63 | Chillington Devon | 1,074 | 10.2 | 1 | 2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 1056 | Wrotham Kent | 1,961 | 22.1 | 21.4 | 4.4 | C |
| 1057 | Llandovery Dyfed | 1,455 | 32 | 11.6 | 7.5 | C |
| 1058 | Mistley Essex | 1,827 | 29.4 | 14.2 | 5.5 | C |
| 1059 | Heathfield Devon | 1,496 | 36 | 7.8 | 10.5 | C |
| 1060 | Pagham West Sussex | 1,291 | 30.2 | 13.7 | 21.4 | C |
| 1061 | Bean Kent | 1,633 | 27.6 | 16.5 | 3.3 | C |
| 1062 | Shireoaks Nottinghamshire | 1,774 | 27.8 | 16.4 | 3.8 | 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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 41 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 18 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
No one died in a collision on Heathfield’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Heathfield’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 5 collisions with injuries inside Heathfield 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 Heathfield is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Heathfield’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; Heathfield 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.
Crime in the places around Heathfield
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heathfield | 1,496 | 36 | 7.8 | C |
| Coldeast | 1,186 | 9.5 | 5.8 | A |
| Chudleigh Knighton | 1,168 | 11.5 | 5.3 | A |
| Bovey Tracey | 6,241 | 14.9 | 5.2 | A− |
| Kingsteignton | 11,945 | 20 | 8.6 | B |
| Newton Abbot | 29,650 | 40.4 | 11.2 | C− |
| Chudleigh | 4,372 | 22.9 | 7.4 | B |
| Denbury | 1,482 | 38 | 4.7 | C |
Heathfield records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Newton Abbot records more. Coldeast, 1 miles away, records 9.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Heathfield’s 36.
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 Heathfield 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 Heathfield
Is Heathfield safe?
Police recorded 36 violent and sexual offences and 7.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Heathfield’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 29% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Heathfield is 1,059th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Heathfield?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 22%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 111%, shoplifting and theft rose 145% and anti-social behaviour fell 8%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Heathfield?
Violence & sexual offences: 59 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (18) and criminal damage & arson (12), with 11 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Heathfield compare with Torquay?
Torquay records 62.6 violent and sexual offences and 20.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Heathfield’s 36 and 7.8, 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.