Photo: Bellminsterboy · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Wimborne Minster sees less crime than 80% of UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
Recorded violence rose 6% in a year. All told, Wimborne Minster grades B− for safety (#18 of 30 in Dorset): close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Its police logs show 22.8 violent and sexual offences and 9.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Wimborne Minster
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% more violent crime per resident in Wimborne Minster than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 10% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 307 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, Wimborne Minster has the 67th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Oakham, Wombourne and Clevedon, higher than Newport, Forest Town and Willerby and Anlaby. Towns its size ↓
Many neighbourhoods rank low for crime nationally
The government’s Indices of Deprivation 2025 rank every neighbourhood in England on recorded crime. 28% of Wimborne Minster’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.
What’s behind Wimborne Minster’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 1,610 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wimborne Minster against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
1 in 4 Wimborne Minster residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
57% 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.
Wimborne Minster’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Wimborne Minster runs highest on anti-social behaviour (18.3 per 1,000 against 12.4). Drugs and public order sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 402 | 24.2 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 304 | 18.3 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 85 | 5.1 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 82 | 4.9 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 52 | 3.1 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 47 | 2.8 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 31 | 1.9 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 27 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 18 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 12 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 11 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 9 | 0.5 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
Set against 307 towns its size, Wimborne Minster is 67th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 3 | Verwood Dorset | 13,706 | 12.5 | 5.9 | 6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 6 | Ferndown Dorset | 13,267 | 13.8 | 7.2 | 6.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 64 | Newport Shropshire | 14,191 | 24.7 | 7.3 | 9.1 | B− |
| 65 | Forest Town Nottinghamshire | 19,015 | 23.7 | 8.5 | 9.3 | B− |
| 66 | Willerby and Anlaby East Riding of Yorkshire | 19,269 | 21.9 | 10.3 | 11.9 | B− |
| 67 | Wimborne Minster Dorset | 16,629 | 22.8 | 9.5 | 9.9 | B− |
| 68 | Romsey Hampshire | 19,923 | 21.6 | 10.7 | 13.6 | B− |
| 69 | Belper Derbyshire | 19,076 | 25.6 | 6.7 | 9 | B− |
| 70 | Calne Wiltshire | 19,725 | 25.9 | 6.5 | 5.3 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 111 | Bridport Dorset | 12,294 | 28 | 9.9 | 10.4 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 130 | Dorchester Dorset | 21,358 | 27.4 | 12.3 | 15.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 307 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Wimborne Minster, and others in Dorset.
How crime in Wimborne Minster has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 +6% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -10% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -35% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +18% (towns its size -4%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 67% of Wimborne Minster’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 12% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 10% of violent and 5% 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. 511 crimes.
Crime in Wimborne Minster 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 8 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 9 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 Wimborne Minster police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 135 | 75% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 112 | 53% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 95 | 28% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 65 | 40% anti-social behaviour |
| Shopping areas | 36 | 50% anti-social behaviour |
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 Wimborne Minster. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Wimborne Minster’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 77 collisions with injuries inside Wimborne Minster in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 19 people were killed or seriously injured: 7 on foot and 5 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Wimborne Minster’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Wimborne Minster’s own rate (1.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Wimborne Minster had 22.4 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Wimborne Minster’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wimborne Minster
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 22.8 | 9.5 | B− |
| Merley | 5,489 | 8.4 | 2.8 | A+ |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 23.1 | 12.1 | C+ |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 11.9 | 7 | A |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 13.8 | 7.2 | A− |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 9.1 | 7.8 | A |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 16.9 | 9 | B+ |
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 12.6 | 6.9 | A− |
Wimborne Minster records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Bearwood records more. Merley, 1.5 miles away, records 8.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Wimborne Minster’s 22.8.
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 Wimborne Minster 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 Wimborne Minster
Is Wimborne Minster safe?
Police recorded 22.8 violent and sexual offences and 9.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wimborne Minster’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 50% of UK towns. Among 307 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, Wimborne Minster is 67th from the least crime. 28% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Wimborne Minster?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 10%, shoplifting and theft fell 35% and anti-social behaviour rose 18%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Wimborne Minster?
Violence & sexual offences: 402 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (85) and criminal damage & arson (82), with 304 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wimborne Minster compare with Bournemouth?
Bournemouth records 37.1 violent and sexual offences and 20.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Wimborne Minster’s 22.8 and 9.5, 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.