Photo: Chris Heaton · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Cottam sees more crime than 86% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people
Recorded violence rose 5% in a year. Annual rates stand at 37.4 violent and sexual offences and 16.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents. Its Safety Grade is C−, on crimes police recorded inside Cottam’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: #43 of 65 in Lancashire. Police recorded 54 cases of criminal damage & arson locally in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 9.8 per 1,000 against a typical 4.5.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Cottam
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 5% more violent crime per resident in Cottam 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 518 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, Cottam has the 440th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Cleator Moor, Moorends and Wadebridge, higher than East Tilbury, Middleton St George and Abercynon. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Cottam’s C− for safety
A firm grade. Built on 884 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Cottam 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 Cottam’s neighbourhoods rank in England
23% 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.
Cottam’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, Cottam runs highest on other crime (3.5 per 1,000 against 1.5), criminal damage & arson (9.8 per 1,000 against 4.5) and anti-social behaviour (16.3 per 1,000 against 8.8).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 209 | 38 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 90 | 16.3 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 54 | 9.8 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 24 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 19 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 16 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 16 | 2.9 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 10 | 1.8 | 2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 8 | 1.5 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 1.1 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 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.
Cottam places 440th of 518 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 27 | Bolton-le-Sands Lancashire | 6,728 | 12.6 | 5.3 | 3.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 60 | Carleton Lancashire | 4,793 | 12.3 | 9 | 2.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 100 | Eccleston Lancashire | 4,543 | 14.9 | 9.1 | 3.4 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 437 | East Tilbury Essex | 5,751 | 37.2 | 15.7 | 8.8 | C− |
| 438 | Middleton St George County Durham | 4,756 | 40.9 | 12.3 | 5 | C− |
| 439 | Abercynon Mid Glamorgan | 6,376 | 39.9 | 13.5 | 5.3 | C− |
| 440 | Cottam Lancashire | 5,507 | 37.4 | 16.1 | 8.6 | C− |
| 441 | Throckley Tyne and Wear | 6,207 | 36.4 | 17.4 | 6.4 | C− |
| 442 | Bedwas Gwent | 6,463 | 39.4 | 14.8 | 6.2 | C− |
| 443 | Treherbert Mid Glamorgan | 5,427 | 41.9 | 12.6 | 4.8 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 518 | Stainforth South Yorkshire | 5,999 | 72.5 | 49.7 | 14.4 | 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 Cottam, and others in Lancashire.
Crime in Cottam 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 15 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 5 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Police in Cottam identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 62% of Cottam’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” (54% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 8% 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. 307 crimes.
How crime in Cottam 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 +5% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +0% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -40% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -55% (towns its size +0%).
No one died in a collision on Cottam’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 45 collisions with injuries inside Cottam in five years. 15 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Cottam is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, Cottam had 54.5 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 Cottam’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Cottam
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cottam | 5,507 | 37.4 | 16.1 | C− |
| Fulwood | 34,693 | 32.1 | 12.7 | C |
| Clifton | 1,022 | 26.1 | 11.7 | C+ |
| Broughton | 2,468 | 31.1 | 20.4 | C− |
| Preston | 94,502 | 60.8 | 26.8 | D− |
| Barton | 1,492 | 16.5 | 9.8 | B+ |
| Newton-with-Scales | 1,510 | 21 | 10.4 | B− |
| Penwortham | 20,489 | 24.8 | 8.8 | B− |
Cottam records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Preston records more. Fulwood, 1.8 miles away, records 32.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Cottam’s 37.4.
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 Cottam 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 Cottam
Is Cottam safe?
Police recorded 37.4 violent and sexual offences and 16.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Cottam’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 17% of UK towns. Among 518 UK towns of 4,000 to 7,000 people, Cottam is 440th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Cottam?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 5%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 40% and anti-social behaviour fell 55%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Cottam?
Violence & sexual offences: 209 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (54) and public order (24), with 90 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Cottam 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 Cottam’s 37.4 and 16.1, 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.