Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Alton records drugs at 2.4 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violence recorded locally dropped 23% in a year. Police recorded 81 cases of drugs in Alton in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 4.5 per 1,000 against a typical 1.9. The overall Safety Grade is C (#54 of 76 in Hampshire), which means more crime per resident than 67% of UK towns, judged on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Alton
One ward carries much of the rate
Alton Eastbrooke ward, where 47% of Alton’s shoplifting and theft is recorded, recorded 692 of Alton’s 1,695 violent and sexual offences in three years: 80.4 per 1,000 of its own residents a year. Across the rest of Alton the figure is 22.1. Where in Alton ↓
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 23% less violent crime per resident in Alton 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 rose 11% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 292 UK towns of 13,000 to 24,000 people, Alton has the 132nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Stone, Conwy and Uttoxeter, higher than Brixham, Armagh and Melksham. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Alton’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 2,198 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Alton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
How crime in Alton 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 -23% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +11% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -7% (towns its size -4%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Alton runs highest on drugs (4.5 per 1,000 against 1.9). Anti-social behaviour and other crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 490 | 27.4 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 138 | 7.7 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 98 | 5.5 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 88 | 4.9 | 6.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 81 | 4.5 | 1.9 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 75 | 4.2 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 60 | 3.4 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 36 | 2 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 33 | 1.8 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 19 | 1.1 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 16 | 0.9 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 6 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 5 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 0.2 | 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.
Lowest recorded crime in Alton Amery, Alton Holybourne and Alton Ashdell; highest in Alton Eastbrooke
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton Amery | 2,606 | 9.8 | 2.9 | |
| Alton Holybourne | 1,331 | 16.8 | 4.5 | |
| Alton Ashdell | 2,358 | 17.2 | 4.1 | |
| Alton Westbrooke | 2,807 | 21.3 | 7.6 | |
| Alton Wooteys | 3,504 | 30.6 | 5.7 | |
| Alton Whitedown | 2,408 | 31.4 | 11.4 | |
| Alton Eastbrooke | 2,869 | 80.4 | 24.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 568 | 37% violent |
| Supermarkets | 115 | 35% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 106 | 36% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Alton Eastbrooke records 3.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Alton. 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 Alton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Alton’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How Alton’s neighbourhoods rank in England
45% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 9% 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.
Alton’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.
For every 1,000 residents, about 28 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 9 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Of 292 towns its size, Alton is 132nd from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Yateley Hampshire | 14,676 | 17 | 8.2 | 5.6 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 29 | Tadley Hampshire | 14,767 | 19.6 | 7.4 | 6.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Hedge End Hampshire | 23,195 | 22.1 | 8.2 | 16.9 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 68 | Romsey Hampshire | 19,923 | 21.6 | 10.7 | 13.6 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 129 | Brixham Devon | 17,839 | 30.1 | 10.1 | 7.2 | C+ |
| 130 | Armagh Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 16,310 | 27.6 | 12.7 | 13.4 | C |
| 131 | Melksham Wiltshire | 18,277 | 29.7 | 11.1 | 10.2 | C |
| 132 | Alton Hampshire | 17,883 | 31.7 | 9.4 | 9.4 | C |
| 133 | Stratton St Margaret Wiltshire | 20,689 | 29.5 | 11.8 | 12.7 | C |
| 134 | Syston Leicestershire | 13,628 | 27.4 | 13.9 | 12.3 | C |
| 135 | Haslingden Lancashire | 16,005 | 29.4 | 12.1 | 8.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 292 | Sheerness Kent | 13,253 | 87.2 | 32.8 | 27.3 | 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 Alton, and others in Hampshire.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 71% of Alton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 11% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (66% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 3% 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. 734 crimes.
One person died in collisions on Alton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 63 collisions with injuries inside Alton in five years, in which one person died. 11 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 on foot and 3 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 Alton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Alton’s own rate (1.1) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Alton had 12.6 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below 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 Alton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Alton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alton | 17,883 | 31.7 | 9.4 | C |
| Holybourne | 1,304 | 9.2 | 6.7 | A |
| Four Marks | 5,613 | 13.8 | 5.5 | A− |
| Bentley | 1,406 | 14 | 3.3 | A |
| Whitehill | 5,178 | 18.9 | 8 | B |
| Bordon | 9,349 | 36.4 | 12.8 | C− |
| Lindford | 2,740 | 26.4 | 9 | C+ |
| Odiham | 5,091 | 13.8 | 6.7 | A− |
Alton records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Bordon records more. Holybourne, 1.4 miles away, records 9.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Alton’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 Alton 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 Alton
Is Alton safe?
Police recorded 31.7 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Alton’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 33% of UK towns. Among 292 UK towns of 13,000 to 24,000 people, Alton is 132nd from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Alton?
By council ward, Alton Amery, Alton Holybourne and Alton Ashdell record the least violent and household crime per resident: 9.8, 16.8 and 17.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 80.4 in Alton Eastbrooke.
Is crime going up in Alton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 23%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 11%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour fell 7%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Alton?
Violence & sexual offences: 490 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (98) and criminal damage & arson (88), with 138 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Alton compare with Basingstoke?
Basingstoke records 41.3 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Alton’s 31.7 and 9.4, 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.