Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0Blackpool records more crime per resident than almost every UK town
That puts it at D− for safety, judged on crimes police recorded inside Blackpool’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. It has less crime per resident than 1% of the 207 UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more. Per 1,000 residents a year, 79.1 violent and sexual offences and 26.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Blackpool
Neighbourhood ranks
53% of Blackpool’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 7% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Blackpool’s D−
A firm grade. Built on 47,121 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Blackpool against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
53% of Blackpool residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
7% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 53% 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.
Blackpool’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.
Lowest recorded crime in Anchorsholme, Stanley and Staining and Weeton; highest in Talbot
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anchorsholme | 5,919 | 24.6 | 10.2 | |
| Stanley | 6,847 | 26.5 | 10.1 | |
| Staining and Weeton | 934 | 31.4 | 9.3 | |
| Tithebarn | 1,001 | 33.6 | 8 | |
| Norbreck | 5,992 | 30.1 | 12.6 | |
| Squires Gate | 6,185 | 29.9 | 13.6 | |
| Highfield | 6,319 | 34.3 | 9.5 | |
| Bispham | 6,209 | 30.8 | 14.3 | |
| Greenlands | 6,664 | 35.1 | 12.6 | |
| Victoria & Norcross | 1,900 | 33.2 | 16.3 | |
| Marton | 6,861 | 43.7 | 15.1 | |
| Hawes Side | 7,143 | 48.3 | 17.3 | |
| Warton and Westby | 1,293 | 46.7 | 22.4 | |
| Layton | 6,705 | 53.5 | 18.6 | |
| Tyldesley | 6,764 | 54.8 | 23.2 | |
| Warbreck | 6,736 | 57.9 | 23.1 | |
| Hardhorn with High Cross | 987 | 65.5 | 17.9 | |
| Ingthorpe | 6,545 | 60.2 | 24.9 | |
| Jubilee | 731 | 56.5 | 28.7 | |
| St Leonards | 1,467 | 75.2 | 18.4 | |
| Victoria | 6,591 | 71.6 | 25.7 | |
| Brunswick | 6,916 | 81.9 | 29.2 | |
| Park | 7,360 | 93.7 | 25.4 | |
| Waterloo | 6,738 | 88.6 | 37.2 | |
| Clifton | 6,551 | 103.2 | 27.2 | |
| Bloomfield | 7,567 | 191.3 | 62.6 | |
| Claremont | 7,630 | 223.2 | 53.1 | |
| Talbot | 6,532 | 265.5 | 86.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 5,284 | 34% violent |
| Nightclubs | 2,101 | 46% violent |
| Supermarkets | 1,480 | 44% shoplifting & theft |
| Shopping areas | 1,405 | 33% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 1,219 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| Police stations | 336 | 44% anti-social behaviour |
| Hospitals | 324 | 56% anti-social behaviour |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 316 | 39% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 255 | 43% anti-social behaviour |
| Conference and exhibition centres | 44 | 43% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Talbot records 3.8× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Blackpool. 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 Blackpool. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Blackpool’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How Blackpool compares with UK towns of 104,000 to 201,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richmond upon Thames London | 192,888 | 18.8 | 17.9 | 15.9 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Blackburn Lancashire | 124,958 | 44.5 | 18.3 | 15.3 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | Huddersfield West Yorkshire | 141,683 | 57.1 | 18.5 | 18.2 | D |
| 41 | Basildon Essex | 115,935 | 54.2 | 24.2 | 19.8 | D− |
| 42 | Newport Gwent | 130,882 | 55.8 | 25.6 | 26.1 | D− |
| 43 | Blackpool Lancashire | 149,087 | 79.1 | 26.3 | 24.8 | D− |
| 44 | Middlesbrough North Yorkshire | 148,232 | 70.8 | 40.1 | 30.1 | 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 Blackpool, and others in Lancashire.
Police in Blackpool identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 54% of Blackpool’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” (62% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 6% 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. 15,944 crimes.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Blackpool runs highest on anti-social behaviour (38.1 per 1,000 against 17.5), possession of weapons (2.3 per 1,000 against 1.1) and other crime (4.2 per 1,000 against 2.1). Shoplifting sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 11,313 | 75.9 | 38.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 5,677 | 38.1 | 17.5 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 1,873 | 12.6 | 7.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1,650 | 11.1 | 6.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 1,622 | 10.9 | 7.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1,300 | 8.7 | 10.3 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 877 | 5.9 | 4.9 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 724 | 4.9 | 3.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 712 | 4.8 | 3.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 630 | 4.2 | 2.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 338 | 2.3 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 243 | 1.6 | 1.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 163 | 1.1 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 152 | 1 | 0.9 |
“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 and cities of 50,000 or more.
Crime in Blackpool 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 23 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 22 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling three-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year. In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -1% (towns its size +2%), homes and vehicles -10% (towns its size -5%), shoplifting and theft -13% (towns its size -3%), anti-social behaviour -38% (towns its size -2%).
16 people died in collisions on Blackpool’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 1,617 collisions with injuries inside Blackpool in five years, in which 16 people died (10 were pedestrians). 590 people were killed or seriously injured: 150 on foot and 82 on a bicycle.
That is 2.2 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (1.1, 210 towns).
Counting serious injuries too, Blackpool had 79.2 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more (30.3). 25% of them were on foot, against 31% across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more.
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 Blackpool’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Blackpool
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | 149,087 | 79.1 | 26.3 | D− |
| Staining | 1,622 | 23.6 | 5.8 | B |
| Poulton-le-Fylde | 12,792 | 30.5 | 11 | C |
| Carleton | 4,793 | 12.3 | 9 | A− |
| Thornton | 19,263 | 27.6 | 10.9 | C+ |
| Cleveleys | 11,121 | 32.5 | 11.9 | C |
| Lytham St Anne's | 42,693 | 27.3 | 11.2 | C+ |
| Hambleton | 2,428 | 21.6 | 6.2 | B |
Blackpool records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Staining, 1.9 miles away, records 23.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Blackpool’s 79.1.
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
- Big public sites inside the boundary. police.uk counted 324 at or near a hospital over three years. They count in Blackpool’s rate, as they would for any town that has them.
- 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 Blackpool 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 Blackpool
Is Blackpool safe?
Police recorded 79.1 violent and sexual offences and 26.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Blackpool’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: behind almost every UK town. Among UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, Blackpool has less crime per resident than 1%.
What are the safest areas of Blackpool?
By council ward, Anchorsholme, Stanley and Staining and Weeton record the least violent and household crime per resident: 24.6, 26.5 and 31.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 265.5 in Talbot.
Is crime going up in Blackpool?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 10%, shoplifting and theft fell 13% and anti-social behaviour fell 38%. Across UK towns and cities of 50,000 or more, violent crime held steady.
Is Blackpool city centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 2,101 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 46% of them violent, and Talbot ward records 265.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in May and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Blackpool?
Violence & sexual offences: 11,313 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (1,873) and other theft (1,650), with 5,677 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 · 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.