Photo: Alan Hughes · CC BY-SA 2.0Pontllanfraith records vehicle crime at 3.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Recorded violence rose 14% in a year. Weighing it all, Pontllanfraith earns C for safety (#8 of 38 in Gwent), with more crime per resident than 75% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area over September 2023 to August 2026. Of all the kinds of crime, vehicle crime is where Pontllanfraith departs most from towns its size: 6.4 per 1,000 against 2.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Pontllanfraith
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 14% more violent crime per resident in Pontllanfraith than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 61% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, Pontllanfraith has the 274th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Bursledon, Brynteg and Hoo St Werburgh, higher than Killingworth, Sarn and Sileby. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The C for Pontllanfraith, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,319 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Pontllanfraith 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, Pontllanfraith runs highest on vehicle crime (6.4 per 1,000 against 2), public order (8.8 per 1,000 against 3.6) and burglary (4.5 per 1,000 against 1.9).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 316 | 33.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 165 | 17.6 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 96 | 10.3 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 82 | 8.8 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 60 | 6.4 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 42 | 4.5 | 1.9 |
| Other theft | not graded | 40 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 28 | 3 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 22 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 17 | 1.8 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 6 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
How crime in Pontllanfraith has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 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 +14% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +61% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +8% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +62% (towns its size +0%).
Police in Pontllanfraith identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 58% of Pontllanfraith’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (57% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 7% 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. 389 crimes.
How Pontllanfraith’s neighbourhoods rank in Wales
14% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of Wales’s neighbourhoods, and 17% in the highest-crime 20%. The community safety domain scores recorded crime, anti-social behaviour and fire incidents where people live, so it can read differently from the town-wide rate, which counts crimes where they happened.
Pontllanfraith’s residents by the crime decile of their neighbourhood (LSOA, about 1,500 people) in the Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025 (community safety domain), where 1 is the highest-crime 10% of Wales’s neighbourhoods and 10 the lowest.
274th of 411: Pontllanfraith among towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Rogerstone Gwent | 7,546 | 17.5 | 10.1 | 9.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 258 | Monmouth Gwent | 10,330 | 32.9 | 11.3 | 19.2 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 271 | Killingworth Tyne and Wear | 12,180 | 30.2 | 16.1 | 20.9 | C |
| 272 | Sarn Mid Glamorgan | 11,867 | 37 | 9.4 | 9.2 | C |
| 273 | Sileby Leicestershire | 8,954 | 32.3 | 14.1 | 7.7 | C |
| 274 | Pontllanfraith Gwent | 9,363 | 31.7 | 15.2 | 7.4 | C |
| 275 | Ludlow Shropshire | 10,037 | 31 | 16.1 | 17.7 | C |
| 276 | Cullompton Devon | 8,895 | 37.4 | 10 | 9.9 | C− |
| 277 | Brockworth Gloucestershire | 12,007 | 38.6 | 8.9 | 7.7 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 284 | Chepstow Gwent | 11,939 | 34.2 | 14.4 | 20 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 286 | Caldicot Gwent | 9,813 | 34.8 | 14.1 | 9.8 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 411 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Pontllanfraith, and others in Gwent.
For every 1,000 residents, about 35 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
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 21 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 7 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 Pontllanfraith police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 59 | 29% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 50 | 36% anti-social behaviour |
| Bus and coach stations | 28 | 36% homes & vehicles |
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 Pontllanfraith. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Two people died in collisions on Pontllanfraith’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 40 collisions with injuries inside Pontllanfraith in five years, in which two people died. 18 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Pontllanfraith’s two people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Pontllanfraith had 38.8 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 Pontllanfraith’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Pontllanfraith
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pontllanfraith | 9,363 | 31.7 | 15.2 | C |
| Blackwood | 12,621 | 55.5 | 24.5 | D− |
| Fleur-de-lis and Pengam | 3,102 | 30.1 | 16.9 | C |
| Maesycwmmer | 2,095 | 28.8 | 13.2 | C |
| Oakdale | 6,126 | 24.1 | 9 | B− |
| Ystrad Mynach | 11,856 | 44.1 | 18.1 | D |
| Tir-y-berth and Glan-y-nant | 1,411 | 36.9 | 15.9 | C− |
| Newbridge | 7,582 | 36.2 | 15.9 | C− |
Pontllanfraith records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Maesycwmmer, 1.5 miles away, records 28.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Pontllanfraith’s 31.7.
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 Pontllanfraith 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 Pontllanfraith
Is Pontllanfraith safe?
Police recorded 31.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.2 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Pontllanfraith’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 25% of UK towns. Among 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, Pontllanfraith is 274th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Pontllanfraith?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 14%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 61%, shoplifting and theft rose 8% and anti-social behaviour rose 62%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Pontllanfraith?
Violence & sexual offences: 316 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (96) and public order (82), with 165 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.