Photo: Rwendland · Public domainFor burglary, vehicle crime and damage, Heysham trails 82% of UK towns per resident
Recorded violence rose 9% in a year. Each year brought 36.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 1,000 residents. The Safety Grade comes out at C−, drawn from crimes police recorded inside Heysham’s built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026: #42 of 65 in Lancashire. Add to that, it has less crime per resident than 34% of the UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, 645 in all.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Heysham
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 9% more violent crime per resident in Heysham 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 307 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, Heysham has the 211th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than East Ardsley, Leek and Armthorpe, higher than Sleaford, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and Maesteg. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
40% of Heysham’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 0% 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.
Inside Heysham’s C− for safety
A firm grade. Built on 2,602 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Heysham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
40% of Heysham residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 40% 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.
Heysham’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, Heysham runs highest on criminal damage & arson (9.3 per 1,000 against 6.2), anti-social behaviour (17.2 per 1,000 against 12.4) and vehicle crime (3.9 per 1,000 against 2.8). Public order and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 613 | 36.9 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 286 | 17.2 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 155 | 9.3 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 93 | 5.6 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 64 | 3.9 | 2.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 58 | 3.5 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 50 | 3 | 2.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 42 | 2.5 | 6.1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 29 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 28 | 1.7 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 12 | 0.7 | 0.3 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 12 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 5 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 5 | 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 Heysham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 56% of Heysham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 8% 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 8% of violent and 1% 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. 847 crimes.
Lowest recorded crime in Heysham Central, Heysham South and Heysham North; highest in Overton
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heysham Central | 4,721 | 25.9 | 12 | |
| Heysham South | 6,775 | 31.4 | 9.8 | |
| Heysham North | 4,085 | 49.4 | 23.2 | |
| Overton | 666 | 77.1 | 37.5 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 85 | 28% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 43 | 79% shoplifting & theft |
| Supermarkets | 28 | 29% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Overton records 2.2× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Heysham. 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 Heysham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Heysham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Heysham 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 16 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 9 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Heysham 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 +9% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -3% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +45% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -51% (towns its size -4%).
Of 307 towns its size, Heysham is 211th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 35 | Euxton Lancashire | 17,519 | 21 | 6.9 | 4.3 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 80 | Penwortham Lancashire | 20,489 | 24.8 | 8.8 | 6.7 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 86 | Clitheroe Lancashire | 16,626 | 24.3 | 10.5 | 8.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 120 | Thornton Lancashire | 19,263 | 27.6 | 10.9 | 7.1 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 208 | Sleaford Lincolnshire | 18,028 | 41.4 | 10.6 | 17.5 | C− |
| 209 | Kirkby-in-Ashfield Nottinghamshire | 21,262 | 35.7 | 16.4 | 19 | C− |
| 210 | Maesteg Mid Glamorgan | 18,342 | 36.7 | 15.5 | 17.3 | C− |
| 211 | Heysham Lancashire | 16,593 | 36.7 | 15.6 | 7.3 | C− |
| 212 | Baildon West Yorkshire | 17,056 | 35.8 | 16.5 | 8.2 | C− |
| 213 | Swanley Kent | 17,209 | 35.7 | 16.8 | 16 | C− |
| 214 | Keynsham Somerset | 19,257 | 39.1 | 13.4 | 9.4 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 307 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Heysham, and others in Lancashire.
One person died in collisions on Heysham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 63 collisions with injuries inside Heysham in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 18 people were killed or seriously injured: 5 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
That is about what 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 Heysham’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Heysham’s own rate (1.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Heysham had 21.7 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Heysham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Heysham
Heysham records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Morecambe and Lancaster record more. Overton, 2.8 miles away, records 23.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Heysham’s 36.7.
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 Heysham 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 Heysham
Is Heysham safe?
Police recorded 36.7 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Heysham’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 19% of UK towns. Among 307 UK towns of 12,000 to 22,000 people, Heysham is 211th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Heysham?
By council ward, Heysham Central, Heysham South and Heysham North record the least violent and household crime per resident: 25.9, 31.4 and 49.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 77.1 in Overton.
Is crime going up in Heysham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 9%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 45% and anti-social behaviour fell 51%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Heysham?
Violence & sexual offences: 613 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (155) and other theft (93), with 286 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Heysham compare with Lancaster?
Lancaster records 39.3 violent and sexual offences and 22.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Heysham’s 36.7 and 15.6, 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.