Photo: Deborah Tilley · CC BY-SA 2.0Merlin's Bridge records violent crime at 2.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Its Safety Grade, C−, rests on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: more crime per resident than 85% of UK towns. Year on year, 46.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. Recorded violence fell 12% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Merlin's Bridge
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% less violent crime per resident in Merlin's Bridge than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Merlin's Bridge’s C− for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 336 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Merlin's Bridge 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, Merlin's Bridge runs highest on violence & sexual offences (45.5 per 1,000 against 16.6), public order (6.3 per 1,000 against 2.4) and criminal damage & arson (6.8 per 1,000 against 3.2).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 101 | 45.5 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 15 | 6.8 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 14 | 6.3 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 13 | 5.9 | 5.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 8 | 3.6 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 7 | 3.2 | 1.6 |
| Drugs | not graded | 7 | 3.2 | 0.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 2.7 | 1.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.5 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | 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.
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.
How Merlin's Bridge compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 131 | Tycroes Dyfed | 2,480 | 17.1 | 3.5 | 2.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 319 | Hendy and Fforest Dyfed | 2,996 | 21.6 | 8.7 | 1.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 439 | Llandybie Dyfed | 2,563 | 34.1 | 7.5 | 5.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 444 | Narberth Dyfed | 2,365 | 34.1 | 8.6 | 8.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 510 | Maple Cross Hertfordshire | 2,580 | 38.8 | 16.8 | 4.9 | C− |
| 511 | Berrow and Brean Somerset | 2,252 | 44.3 | 11.7 | 8.4 | C− |
| 512 | Meriden West Midlands | 2,203 | 27.8 | 28.1 | 7.1 | C− |
| 513 | Merlin's Bridge Dyfed | 2,220 | 46.6 | 9.6 | 5.6 | C− |
| 514 | Scholes (near Cleckheaton) West Yorkshire | 2,896 | 42 | 14.7 | 7.1 | C− |
| 515 | Smallfield Surrey | 2,613 | 42.2 | 14.8 | 10.6 | D |
| 516 | Great Houghton South Yorkshire | 2,489 | 33.9 | 23.8 | 11.7 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Merlin's Bridge, and others in Dyfed.
How crime in Merlin's Bridge has moved
Dyfed Powys Police published four months short or not at all (Jan 2024, Feb 2024, Mar 2024 and Apr 2024), 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). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -12% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +10% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Merlin's Bridge 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Merlin's Bridge’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 11 collisions with injuries inside Merlin's Bridge in five years. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Merlin's Bridge is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Merlin's Bridge’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; Merlin's Bridge had 4.
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 Merlin's Bridge’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Merlin's Bridge
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merlin's Bridge | 2,220 | 46.6 | 9.6 | C− |
| Haverfordwest | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | D− |
| Johnston | 1,766 | 63.7 | 12.5 | D |
| Crundale | 1,065 | 13.4 | 3.2 | A |
| Neyland | 3,250 | 40 | 15.8 | C− |
| Milford Haven | 14,251 | 74.9 | 22.6 | D− |
| Pembroke Dock | 9,659 | 63.4 | 20.2 | D− |
| Pembroke | 7,963 | 50.6 | 16.4 | D |
Merlin's Bridge records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Crundale, 2.8 miles away, records 13.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Merlin's Bridge’s 46.6.
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
- Some months are short. Dyfed Powys Police published January 2024, February 2024, March 2024 and April 2024 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 Merlin's Bridge 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 Merlin's Bridge
Is Merlin's Bridge safe?
Police recorded 46.6 violent and sexual offences and 9.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Merlin's Bridge’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 15% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Merlin's Bridge has less crime per resident than 6%.
Is crime going up in Merlin's Bridge?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 10%, shoplifting and theft fell 15% and anti-social behaviour rose 44%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Merlin's Bridge?
Violence & sexual offences: 101 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (15) and public order (14), with 13 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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 · Welsh Government Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025, community safety domain by LSOA · 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.