Photo: Robert Wade · CC BY-SA 2.0More violent crime is recorded per resident in Nelson than in 89% of UK towns
It has less crime per resident than 22% of the UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, 645 in all. Graded on crimes police recorded inside Nelson’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it scores D for safety: #48 of 65 in Lancashire. Recorded violence rose 7% in a year. The local count comes to 44.8 violent and sexual offences and 15.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Nelson
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 7% more violent crime per resident in Nelson 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 fell 6% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 190 UK towns of 24,000 to 46,000 people, Nelson has the 137th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Pontypridd, Worksop and Heanor, higher than Thetford, Aberdare and Winsford. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
45% of Nelson’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 Nelson’s D for safety
A firm grade. Built on 6,126 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Nelson against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
45% of Nelson residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 45% 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.
Nelson’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, Nelson runs highest on drugs (4.1 per 1,000 against 1.9), possession of weapons (1.4 per 1,000 against 0.7) and anti-social behaviour (22.7 per 1,000 against 12.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 1,552 | 45.9 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 768 | 22.7 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 271 | 8 | 6.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 254 | 7.5 | 4.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 206 | 6.1 | 6.1 |
| Public order | not graded | 189 | 5.6 | 5.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 140 | 4.1 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 137 | 4.1 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 110 | 3.3 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 110 | 3.3 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 49 | 1.4 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 28 | 0.8 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 16 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 7 | 0.2 | 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.
Crime in Nelson 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 14 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 Nelson identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 60% of Nelson’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” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 7% 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. 1,907 crimes.
Among 190 towns its size, Nelson ranks 137th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Heswall Merseyside | 29,082 | 14.3 | 5.5 | 3.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 15 | Ormskirk Lancashire | 27,720 | 21.3 | 7.4 | 8.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Lytham St Anne's Lancashire | 42,693 | 27.3 | 11.2 | 11.6 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 74 | Fulwood Lancashire | 34,693 | 32.1 | 12.7 | 9.4 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 83 | Bamber Bridge Lancashire | 40,359 | 33.4 | 13.5 | 14.9 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 134 | Thetford Norfolk | 25,502 | 43.9 | 15.7 | 12.4 | D |
| 135 | Aberdare Mid Glamorgan | 37,675 | 46.4 | 13.4 | 9.6 | D |
| 136 | Winsford Cheshire | 32,522 | 49.9 | 10.3 | 7.7 | D |
| 137 | Nelson Lancashire | 33,808 | 44.8 | 15.6 | 13.4 | D |
| 138 | Caerphilly Gwent | 33,104 | 42.1 | 18.6 | 12.5 | D |
| 139 | Newquay Cornwall | 24,543 | 45.9 | 14.8 | 18 | D |
| 140 | Huntingdon Cambridgeshire | 25,603 | 44.6 | 16.4 | 19.9 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 190 | Great Yarmouth Norfolk | 28,979 | 105 | 32.9 | 33.7 | 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 Nelson, and others in Lancashire.
How crime in Nelson 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 +7% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -6% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +9% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -40% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in Whitefield & Walverden, Marsden & Southfield and Bradley
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitefield & Walverden | 11,306 | 41 | 14.3 | |
| Marsden & Southfield | 9,605 | 42.3 | 16.2 | |
| Bradley | 9,463 | 50 | 16.2 | |
| Brierfield East & Clover Hill | 3,434 | 49.7 | 16.8 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Car parks | 502 | 36% anti-social behaviour |
| Shopping areas | 312 | 45% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 145 | 73% shoplifting & theft |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 69 | 55% violent |
| College and university buildings | 35 | 57% violent |
| Hospitals | 33 | 67% anti-social behaviour |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 Nelson. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Nelson’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Two people died in collisions on Nelson’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 215 collisions with injuries inside Nelson in five years, in which two people died (1 was a pedestrian and 1 was a cyclist). 56 people were killed or seriously injured: 20 on foot and 7 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 Nelson’s size would see about 2 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Nelson’s own rate (1.2) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Nelson had 33.1 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8). 36% of them were on foot, against 30% across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people.
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 Nelson’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Nelson
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nelson | 33,808 | 44.8 | 15.6 | D |
| Barrowford | 5,887 | 27.5 | 12.8 | C+ |
| Brierfield | 10,723 | 41.3 | 16.3 | D |
| Fence | 1,585 | 6.5 | 8.8 | A |
| Colne | 18,914 | 49.5 | 21.2 | D |
| Trawden | 1,204 | 26 | 15.2 | C |
| Foulridge | 1,212 | 14.3 | 11 | B+ |
| Burnley | 78,266 | 52.7 | 26.2 | D− |
Nelson records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Colne and Burnley record more. Barrowford, 1 miles away, records 27.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Nelson’s 44.8.
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 Nelson 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 Nelson
Is Nelson safe?
Police recorded 44.8 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 Nelson’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 12% of UK towns. Among 190 UK towns of 24,000 to 46,000 people, Nelson is 137th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Nelson?
By council ward, Whitefield & Walverden, Marsden & Southfield and Bradley record the least violent and household crime per resident: 41, 42.3 and 50 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 49.7 in Brierfield East & Clover Hill.
Is crime going up in Nelson?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 7%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 6%, shoplifting and theft rose 9% and anti-social behaviour fell 40%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Nelson?
Violence & sexual offences: 1,552 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (271) and other theft (254), with 768 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Nelson compare with Burnley?
Burnley records 52.7 violent and sexual offences and 26.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Nelson’s 44.8 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.