Photo: David Dixon · CC BY-SA 2.0Kirkham stands out for possession of weapons: 2.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Weighing it all, Kirkham earns C− for safety (#38 of 65 in Lancashire), with more crime per resident than 77% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area over September 2023 to August 2026. The local count comes to 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 13.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year. Violence recorded locally climbed 12% in a year. On top of that, violent crime here is higher than in 78% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 76%.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Kirkham
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 12% more violent crime per resident in Kirkham 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 fell 26% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 487 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people, Kirkham has the 354th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Skelton (Redcar and Cleveland), Wetherby and Bude, higher than Caldicot, Ulverston and Cheadle. 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. 35% of Kirkham’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.
The C− for Kirkham, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,310 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Kirkham against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Kirkham runs highest on other crime (4.9 per 1,000 against 1.5), possession of weapons (1.1 per 1,000 against 0.4) and anti-social behaviour (19.7 per 1,000 against 8.8). Burglary and vehicle crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 321 | 35.9 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 176 | 19.7 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 72 | 8.1 | 4.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 44 | 4.9 | 1.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 37 | 4.1 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 36 | 4 | 3.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 15 | 1.7 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 14 | 1.6 | 1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 12 | 1.3 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 10 | 1.1 | 2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 10 | 1.1 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 4 | 0.4 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 4 | 0.4 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 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.
A third of Kirkham residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
54% 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.
Kirkham’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.
Police in Kirkham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 56% of Kirkham’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 9% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (58% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% 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. 456 crimes.
How crime in Kirkham 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 +12% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -26% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +14% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -35% (towns its size +0%).
Of 487 towns its size, Kirkham is 354th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 9 | Bolton-le-Sands Lancashire | 6,728 | 12.6 | 5.3 | 3.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Longton Lancashire | 10,912 | 14 | 5.6 | 3.5 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Tarleton and Hesketh Bank Lancashire | 8,756 | 16.4 | 4.3 | 3.4 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 158 | Adlington Lancashire | 8,777 | 22.9 | 8.8 | 5.9 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 351 | Caldicot Gwent | 9,813 | 34.8 | 14.1 | 9.8 | C− |
| 352 | Ulverston Cumbria | 11,219 | 37.3 | 11.5 | 8.6 | C− |
| 353 | Cheadle Staffordshire | 11,403 | 38.2 | 10.6 | 7.2 | C− |
| 354 | Kirkham Lancashire | 8,939 | 35.3 | 13.7 | 6.2 | C− |
| 355 | Bordon Hampshire | 9,349 | 36.4 | 12.8 | 12.1 | C− |
| 356 | Whitworth Lancashire | 6,713 | 35.1 | 14.2 | 7.4 | C− |
| 357 | Rothwell Northamptonshire | 8,623 | 37 | 12.4 | 6.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 487 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Kirkham, and others in Lancashire.
Crime in Kirkham 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 11 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Freckleton East, Kirkham North and Kirkham South; highest in Kirkham South
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Freckleton East | 1,054 | 25.3 | 6.3 | |
| Kirkham North | 4,669 | 25.1 | 11 | |
| Kirkham South | 3,216 | 50.3 | 17.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Prisons | 115 | 64% drugs, public order & other |
| Car parks | 105 | 46% anti-social behaviour |
| Police stations | 33 | 48% anti-social behaviour |
| Shopping areas | 31 | 45% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Kirkham South records 2× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Kirkham. 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 Kirkham. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Kirkham’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Kirkham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 39 collisions with injuries inside Kirkham in five years, in which one person died. 14 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 0 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; Kirkham’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Kirkham had 31.3 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 Kirkham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Kirkham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kirkham | 8,939 | 35.3 | 13.7 | C− |
| Wesham | 4,474 | 28.8 | 8.6 | C+ |
| Wrea Green | 1,899 | 17.4 | 4.6 | A− |
| Newton-with-Scales | 1,510 | 21 | 10.4 | B− |
| Warton (Fylde) | 4,180 | 38 | 9.3 | C− |
| Freckleton | 4,478 | 22 | 10.2 | B− |
| Clifton | 1,022 | 26.1 | 11.7 | C+ |
| Elswick | 1,047 | 16.6 | 5.1 | A− |
Kirkham records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Wesham, 0.8 miles away, records 28.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Kirkham’s 35.3.
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
- A prison inside the boundary. police.uk counted 115 at or near a prison (27% violent) over three years. They count in Kirkham’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 Kirkham 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 Kirkham
Is Kirkham safe?
Police recorded 35.3 violent and sexual offences and 13.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Kirkham’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 23% of UK towns. Among 487 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people, Kirkham is 354th from the least crime. 35% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Kirkham?
By council ward, Freckleton East, Kirkham North and Kirkham South record the least violent and household crime per resident: 25.3, 25.1 and 50.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 50.3 in Kirkham South.
Is crime going up in Kirkham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 12%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 26%, shoplifting and theft rose 14% and anti-social behaviour fell 35%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Kirkham?
Violence & sexual offences: 321 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (72) and other crime (44), with 176 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Kirkham compare with Blackpool?
Blackpool records 79.1 violent and sexual offences and 26.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Kirkham’s 35.3 and 13.7, 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.