Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Farington Moss stands out for other theft: 5.5 times the rate of a typical town its size
Measured against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 43% of them record more crime per resident. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#24 of 65 in Lancashire). Violent crime was up 51% in a year. For every 1,000 residents, 22.9 violent and sexual offences and 13.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were logged a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Farington Moss
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 51% more violent crime per resident in Farington Moss than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Farington Moss has the 577th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Misterton, Middlestown and Overton and Netherton (Kirklees), higher than Earls Colne, Sunniside and Thaxted. 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. 27% of Farington Moss’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% 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.
Farington Moss: C+ for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 290 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Farington Moss 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 Farington Moss 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 +51% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +32% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +36% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -27% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Farington Moss runs highest on other theft (17.8 per 1,000 against 3.2), criminal damage & arson (9.3 per 1,000 against 4.5) and anti-social behaviour (13.4 per 1,000 against 8.8).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 72 | 26.7 | 22.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 48 | 17.8 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 36 | 13.4 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 25 | 9.3 | 4.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 3.3 | 1.9 |
| Public order | not graded | 7 | 2.6 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 2.6 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 1.9 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 1.1 | 1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.8 |
| 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.
1 in 4 Farington Moss residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
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.
Farington Moss’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.
Farington Moss is 577th of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000
| # | 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− |
| … | ||||||
| 574 | Earls Colne Essex | 3,360 | 28.8 | 7 | 3.6 | C+ |
| 575 | Sunniside Tyne and Wear | 3,422 | 22.7 | 13.2 | 9.6 | C+ |
| 576 | Thaxted Essex | 3,111 | 28 | 7.9 | 1.8 | C+ |
| 577 | Farington Moss Lancashire | 2,692 | 22.9 | 13 | 14.7 | C+ |
| 578 | Barlborough Derbyshire | 2,859 | 19 | 16.9 | 7.2 | C+ |
| 579 | Long Buckby Northamptonshire | 3,821 | 28 | 8.2 | 4.8 | C+ |
| 580 | Westcott Surrey | 2,275 | 25.6 | 10.6 | 4.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Farington Moss, and others in Lancashire.
Crime in Farington Moss 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 18 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Farington Moss’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 25 collisions with injuries inside Farington Moss in five years. 6 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 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, and Farington Moss is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Farington Moss’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; Farington Moss 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 Farington Moss’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Farington Moss
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Farington Moss | 2,692 | 22.9 | 13 | C+ |
| Leyland | 39,281 | 37.3 | 14.2 | C− |
| Bamber Bridge | 40,359 | 33.4 | 13.5 | C |
| Penwortham | 20,489 | 24.8 | 8.8 | B− |
| Wymott | 2,092 | 28.4 | 1.8 | B |
| Hutton | 2,140 | 23.4 | 7.9 | B− |
| Euxton | 17,519 | 21 | 6.9 | B |
| Longton | 10,912 | 14 | 5.6 | A− |
Farington Moss records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Leyland and Bamber Bridge record more. Penwortham, 2.4 miles away, records 24.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Farington Moss’s 22.9.
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 Farington Moss 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 Farington Moss
Is Farington Moss safe?
Police recorded 22.9 violent and sexual offences and 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Farington Moss’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 43% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Farington Moss is 577th from the least crime. 27% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Farington Moss?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 51%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 32%, shoplifting and theft rose 36% and anti-social behaviour fell 27%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Farington Moss?
Violence & sexual offences: 72 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (48) and criminal damage & arson (25), with 36 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Farington Moss 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 Farington Moss’s 22.9 and 13, 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.