Cross · Photo: Peter Worrell · CC BY-SA 2.0Catterall sees less burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident than 87% of UK towns
Typical years here bring 27.3 violent and sexual offences plus 5.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents. Public order stands out: 6.8 per 1,000 residents in Catterall, against 3.6 in a typical town its size, with 19 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Its letter overall is B− (#18 of 65 in Lancashire): close to the middle of UK towns, from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. Violence recorded locally held about level 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 Catterall
More crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Catterall has the 514th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Y Felinheli, Bloxham and Hatton, higher than Desford, Cadnam and Bartley and Tanfield Lea. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Catterall’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 271 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Catterall 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 Catterall’s neighbourhoods rank in England
72% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Catterall’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Catterall runs highest on public order (6.8 per 1,000 against 3.6), other theft (5.4 per 1,000 against 3.2) and anti-social behaviour (13.9 per 1,000 against 8.8).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 76 | 27.1 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 39 | 13.9 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 19 | 6.8 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 15 | 5.4 | 3.2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 14 | 5 | 4.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 2.9 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 6 | 2.1 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.1 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.7 | 2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 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.
Towns its size: Catterall comes 514th of 856
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 23 | Parbold Lancashire | 2,409 | 7.8 | 4.3 | 5.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 76 | Myerscough Smithy Lancashire | 2,409 | 10.9 | 5.4 | 3.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 85 | Read Lancashire | 2,049 | 10.3 | 6.5 | 5.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 185 | Caton Lancashire | 2,552 | 14 | 6.5 | 3.9 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 511 | Desford Leicestershire | 3,817 | 21.8 | 10.3 | 8.3 | B− |
| 512 | Cadnam and Bartley Hampshire | 2,023 | 20.8 | 11.4 | 8.4 | B− |
| 513 | Tanfield Lea County Durham | 2,399 | 21.1 | 11.1 | 1.5 | B− |
| 514 | Catterall Lancashire | 2,800 | 27.3 | 5 | 8.1 | B− |
| 515 | Hambrook and Nutbourne West Sussex | 2,752 | 20.1 | 12.2 | 4 | B− |
| 516 | Eglwys-Brewis South Glamorgan | 3,300 | 24.3 | 8.1 | 4.1 | B− |
| 517 | Combe Martin Devon | 2,707 | 25.8 | 6.7 | 5 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 856 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 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 Catterall, and others in Lancashire.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 -3% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -28% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Catterall 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 7 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.
Two people died in collisions on Catterall’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 23 collisions with injuries inside Catterall in five years, in which two people died (1 was a cyclist). 6 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 1 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; Catterall’s two people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Catterall’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Catterall had 6.
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 Catterall’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Catterall
Catterall records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Broughton and Goosnargh record more. Bonds, 1.2 miles away, records 5.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Catterall’s 27.3.
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 Catterall 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 Catterall
Is Catterall safe?
Police recorded 27.3 violent and sexual offences and 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 Catterall’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 50% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Catterall is 514th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Catterall?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 111%, shoplifting and theft rose 11% and anti-social behaviour fell 28%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Catterall?
Violence & sexual offences: 76 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (19) and other theft (15), with 39 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Catterall 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 Catterall’s 27.3 and 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.