Photo: Derek Harper · CC BY-SA 2.0Torquay records more crime per resident than 97% of UK towns
On crimes police recorded inside Torquay’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades D− for safety.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Torquay
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 10% more violent crime per resident in Torquay than in the year before; across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 6% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
33% of Torquay’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 11% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Torquay grades D− for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A firm grade. Built on 12,461 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Torquay against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Police in Torquay identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
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. 3,918 crimes.
No suspect was identified for 50% of Torquay’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 9% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 6% of household crimes reached court.
How Torquay compares with UK towns of 36,000 to 70,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Torquay, and others in Devon.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Metropolitan Castlereagh Lisburn and Castlereagh | 58,763 | 14.8 | 6.6 | 7.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 64 | Paignton Devon | 67,509 | 40.2 | 13.7 | 16.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 116 | Bootle Merseyside | 53,722 | 61.5 | 19.9 | 15.9 | D− |
| 117 | Llanelli Dyfed | 42,143 | 60.2 | 21.3 | 18 | D− |
| 118 | Ramsgate Kent | 42,031 | 61.3 | 20.6 | 22.8 | D− |
| 119 | Torquay Devon | 52,034 | 62.6 | 20.2 | 23.6 | D− |
| 120 | Canterbury Kent | 55,107 | 61.9 | 23.2 | 37.8 | D− |
| 121 | Dewsbury West Yorkshire | 63,730 | 63.4 | 22 | 15.7 | D− |
| 122 | Wrexham Clwyd | 44,781 | 62.3 | 23.3 | 33.7 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 127 | Bridgwater Somerset | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | 29.3 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Against the typical town its size, Torquay runs highest on theft from the person (1.5 per 1,000 against 0.7), possession of weapons (1.9 per 1,000 against 1.1) and violence & sexual offences (62.6 per 1,000 against 38.6). Robbery and vehicle crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 3,258 | 62.6 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 1,071 | 20.6 | 17.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 603 | 11.6 | 7.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 601 | 11.6 | 10.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 505 | 9.7 | 6.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 411 | 7.9 | 7.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 258 | 5 | 3.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 188 | 3.6 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 182 | 3.5 | 3.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 131 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 97 | 1.9 | 1.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 78 | 1.5 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 59 | 1.1 | 1.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 32 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
“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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 66 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 19 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 23 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.
33% of Torquay residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
Torquay’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.
11% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 33% 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.
Violent crime up 10% in a year, while towns its size held steady
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent +10% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -6% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft +1% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -25% (towns its size -2%).
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 and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Lowest recorded crime in Barton with Watcombe, St Marychurch and Wellswood; highest in Tormohun
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Torquay’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barton with Watcombe | 11,963 | 39.8 | 13.3 | |
| St Marychurch | 12,234 | 39.7 | 14.7 | |
| Wellswood | 7,124 | 49.5 | 16.1 | |
| Ellacombe | 8,336 | 60.2 | 18.1 | |
| Tormohun | 12,377 | 105 | 34 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 1,687 | 32% violent |
| Shopping areas | 1,301 | 35% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 504 | 42% drugs, public order & other |
| Nightclubs | 462 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 371 | 41% violent |
| Supermarkets | 268 | 49% shoplifting & theft |
| Ferry terminals | 81 | 52% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 79 | 51% violent |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 70 | 37% anti-social behaviour |
| Bus and coach stations | 33 | 58% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Tormohun records 2.3× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Torquay. 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 Torquay. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Six people died in collisions on Torquay’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Torquay’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 359 collisions with injuries inside Torquay in five years, in which six people died (2 were pedestrians). 73 people were killed or seriously injured: 18 on foot and 8 on a bicycle.
That is more than is typical for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more: at their median rate (1.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Torquay’s size would see about 3 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Torquay’s own rate (2.3) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Torquay had 28.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 25% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Torquay
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Torquay | 52,034 | 62.6 | 20.2 | D− |
| Kingskerswell | 3,761 | 25 | 11.3 | C+ |
| Paignton | 67,509 | 40.2 | 13.7 | C− |
| Marldon | 2,073 | 11.2 | 6.1 | A |
| Shaldon | 1,717 | 13.1 | 6.1 | A− |
| Abbotskerswell | 1,182 | 6.2 | 4.9 | A+ |
| Ipplepen | 2,150 | 10.6 | 5.6 | A |
| Bishopsteignton | 2,271 | 10.4 | 4 | A |
Torquay records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Kingskerswell, 2.8 miles away, records 25 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Torquay’s 62.6.
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 Torquay 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 Torquay
Is Torquay safe?
Police recorded 62.6 violent and sexual offences and 20.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Torquay’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 3% of UK towns. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Torquay has less crime per resident than 10%.
What are the safest areas of Torquay?
By council ward, Barton with Watcombe, St Marychurch and Wellswood record the least violent and household crime per resident: 39.8, 39.7 and 49.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 105 in Tormohun.
Is crime going up in Torquay?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 10%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 6%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 25%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Torquay town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 462 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 28% of them violent, and Tormohun ward records 105 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in July and was lowest in September.
What is the most common crime in Torquay?
Violence & sexual offences: 3,258 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (603) and shoplifting (601), with 1,071 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Torquay compare with Paignton?
Paignton records 40.2 violent and sexual offences and 13.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Torquay’s 62.6 and 20.2, 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.