Photo: Ian S · CC BY-SA 2.0Recorded crime per resident is higher in Bamber Bridge than in 75% of UK towns
In a usual year, 33.4 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. A Safety Grade of C follows from crimes police recorded inside Bamber Bridge’s built-up area over the years September 2023 to August 2026: #36 of 65 in Lancashire. Add to that, recorded violence rose 11% in a year. Shoplifting: police recorded 410 locally in the 12 months to August 2026, 10.2 per 1,000 residents against 6.1 in a typical town its size.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bamber Bridge
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% more violent crime per resident in Bamber Bridge 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 9% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 174 UK towns of 28,000 to 54,000 people, Bamber Bridge has the 67th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Welwyn Garden City, Loughton and Congleton, higher than Canvey Island, Dunstable and Deal. 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. 12% of Bamber Bridge’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 20% 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 Bamber Bridge’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 5,668 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bamber 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.
Lowest recorded crime in Walton-le-Dale West, Charnock and Clayton West & Cuerden; highest in Coupe Green & Gregson Lane
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walton-le-Dale West | 4,353 | 11.9 | 6 | |
| Charnock | 2,075 | 28.9 | 7.7 | |
| Clayton West & Cuerden | 2,887 | 26.8 | 11.9 | |
| Bamber Bridge East | 4,947 | 24.6 | 14.4 | |
| Walton-le-Dale East | 4,741 | 30.4 | 11 | |
| Lostock Hall | 6,134 | 30.1 | 11.6 | |
| Farington West | 1,111 | 28.2 | 14.7 | |
| Clayton East, Brindle & Hoghton | 7,423 | 37.6 | 13.1 | |
| Samlesbury & Walton | 1,345 | 40.1 | 15.6 | |
| Bamber Bridge West | 4,273 | 52.5 | 22.2 | |
| Coupe Green & Gregson Lane | 1,070 | 110 | 40.5 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 946 | 55% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 436 | 56% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 322 | 46% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 152 | 36% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Coupe Green & Gregson Lane records 3.5× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Bamber Bridge. 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 Bamber Bridge. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Bamber Bridge’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How crime in Bamber Bridge 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 +11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +9% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +18% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -39% (towns its size -4%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Bamber Bridge runs highest on shoplifting (10.2 per 1,000 against 6.1), possession of weapons (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.7) and anti-social behaviour (19.6 per 1,000 against 12.4). Public order and drugs sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,376 | 34.1 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 790 | 19.6 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 410 | 10.2 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 319 | 7.9 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 215 | 5.3 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 167 | 4.1 | 5.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 118 | 2.9 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 106 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 96 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 51 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 47 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 25 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 15 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 13 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
“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.
Police in Bamber Bridge identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 62% of Bamber Bridge’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” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 4% 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. 1,874 crimes.
Crime in Bamber 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 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 16 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Of 174 towns its size, Bamber Bridge is 67th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 36 | Lytham St Anne's Lancashire | 42,693 | 27.3 | 11.2 | 11.6 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 59 | Fulwood Lancashire | 34,693 | 32.1 | 12.7 | 9.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 64 | Canvey Island Essex | 38,004 | 33.6 | 12.6 | 9.7 | C |
| 65 | Dunstable Bedfordshire | 34,498 | 31.3 | 14.9 | 12.6 | C |
| 66 | Deal Kent | 28,992 | 34 | 12.8 | 8.1 | C |
| 67 | Bamber Bridge Lancashire | 40,359 | 33.4 | 13.5 | 14.9 | C |
| 68 | Bexhill-on-Sea East Sussex | 43,750 | 33.4 | 13.7 | 19.1 | C |
| 69 | Hinckley Leicestershire | 50,729 | 30.5 | 16.7 | 15.3 | C |
| 70 | Consett County Durham | 29,874 | 33.8 | 13.4 | 14.3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 90 | Leyland Lancashire | 39,281 | 37.3 | 14.2 | 14.3 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 113 | Skelmersdale Lancashire | 34,921 | 41.5 | 17.2 | 9.9 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 174 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Bamber Bridge, and others in Lancashire.
1 in 9 Bamber Bridge residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
36% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 20% 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.
Bamber Bridge’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.
Five people died in collisions on Bamber Bridge’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 283 collisions with injuries inside Bamber Bridge in five years, in which five people died (2 were pedestrians). 93 people were killed or seriously injured: 25 on foot and 11 on a bicycle.
That is more than 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 Bamber Bridge’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Bamber Bridge’s own rate (2.5) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Bamber Bridge had 46.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 27% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Bamber Bridge’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bamber Bridge
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bamber Bridge | 40,359 | 33.4 | 13.5 | C |
| Higher Walton | 1,607 | 17.6 | 6.4 | B+ |
| Gregson Lane | 2,073 | 18.3 | 4.5 | A− |
| Farington Moss | 2,692 | 22.9 | 13 | C+ |
| Coup Green | 1,208 | 16.3 | 4.1 | A− |
| Leyland | 39,281 | 37.3 | 14.2 | C− |
| Penwortham | 20,489 | 24.8 | 8.8 | B− |
| Whittle-le-Woods | 4,388 | 22.8 | 8.7 | B− |
Bamber Bridge records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Leyland records more. Higher Walton, 1.4 miles away, records 17.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bamber Bridge’s 33.4.
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 Bamber 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 Bamber Bridge
Is Bamber Bridge safe?
Police recorded 33.4 violent and sexual offences and 13.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bamber Bridge’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 25% of UK towns. Among 174 UK towns of 28,000 to 54,000 people, Bamber Bridge is 67th from the least crime. 12% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Bamber Bridge?
By council ward, Walton-le-Dale West, Charnock and Clayton West & Cuerden record the least violent and household crime per resident: 11.9, 28.9 and 26.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 110 in Coupe Green & Gregson Lane.
Is crime going up in Bamber Bridge?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 9%, shoplifting and theft rose 18% and anti-social behaviour fell 39%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bamber Bridge?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,376 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (410) and criminal damage & arson (319), with 790 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bamber Bridge compare with Preston?
Preston records 60.8 violent and sexual offences and 26.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bamber Bridge’s 33.4 and 13.5, 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.