Photo: Ian Greig · CC BY-SA 2.0Per resident, Thornton sees less crime than two in three UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
Violent crime here is higher than in 63% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 60%. Measured on crimes police recorded inside Thornton’s built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026, it earns a Safety Grade of C+: #27 of 65 in Lancashire. Violence recorded locally climbed 11% in a year. Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 27.6 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 10.9.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Thornton
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 11% more violent crime per resident in Thornton 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 26% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 318 UK towns of 13,000 to 26,000 people, Thornton has the 124th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Larne, Byfleet and Halstead, higher than Thornbury, Hythe and Dibden Purlieu and Cottingham. 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. 13% of Thornton’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.
Thornton: C+ for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 2,225 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Thornton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
1 in 8 Thornton residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
44% 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.
Thornton’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
Burglary and drugs sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 558 | 29 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 261 | 13.5 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 105 | 5.5 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 93 | 4.8 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 68 | 3.5 | 4.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 66 | 3.4 | 5.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 51 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 34 | 1.8 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 27 | 1.4 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 20 | 1 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 6 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 5 | 0.3 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 4 | 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.
How crime in Thornton 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 +11% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -26% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft +68% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -35% (towns its size -4%).
Police in Thornton identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 63% of Thornton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 5% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (69% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 2% 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. 713 crimes.
Of 318 towns its size, Thornton is 124th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 37 | Euxton Lancashire | 17,519 | 21 | 6.9 | 4.3 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 83 | Penwortham Lancashire | 20,489 | 24.8 | 8.8 | 6.7 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 89 | Clitheroe Lancashire | 16,626 | 24.3 | 10.5 | 8.8 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 121 | Thornbury Gloucestershire | 14,483 | 30 | 8.1 | 6.8 | C+ |
| 122 | Hythe and Dibden Purlieu Hampshire | 19,857 | 27.6 | 10.4 | 8.8 | C+ |
| 123 | Cottingham East Riding of Yorkshire | 14,427 | 26.3 | 12.2 | 15.6 | C+ |
| 124 | Thornton Lancashire | 19,263 | 27.6 | 10.9 | 7.1 | C+ |
| 125 | Petersfield Hampshire | 14,994 | 28.2 | 10.4 | 13.2 | C+ |
| 126 | Banbridge Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 17,400 | 28.2 | 10.8 | 12.4 | C+ |
| 127 | Saltash Cornwall | 15,433 | 28.3 | 10.8 | 10 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 145 | Haslingden Lancashire | 16,005 | 29.4 | 12.1 | 8.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 318 | Sheerness Kent | 13,253 | 87.2 | 32.8 | 27.3 | 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 Thornton, and others in Lancashire.
Lowest recorded crime in Stanah, Pheasant's Wood and Marsh Mill; highest in Bourne
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stanah | 4,578 | 17.6 | 6.6 | |
| Pheasant's Wood | 1,850 | 16.9 | 9.4 | |
| Marsh Mill | 6,217 | 22.5 | 10.1 | |
| Bourne | 6,618 | 40.4 | 14.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 181 | 65% shoplifting & theft |
| Parks and open spaces | 175 | 56% violent |
| Car parks | 132 | 30% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 26 | 46% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Bourne records 2× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Thornton. 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 Thornton. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Thornton’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Crime in Thornton 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 10 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.
No one died in a collision on Thornton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 117 collisions with injuries inside Thornton in five years. 34 people were killed or seriously injured: 5 on foot and 4 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 Thornton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Thornton’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Thornton had 35.3 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). 15% 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 Thornton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Thornton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thornton | 19,263 | 27.6 | 10.9 | C+ |
| Cleveleys | 11,121 | 32.5 | 11.9 | C |
| Carleton | 4,793 | 12.3 | 9 | A− |
| Hambleton | 2,428 | 21.6 | 6.2 | B |
| Poulton-le-Fylde | 12,792 | 30.5 | 11 | C |
| Stalmine | 1,193 | 16.2 | 6.4 | A− |
| Fleetwood | 26,224 | 54.4 | 17.8 | D |
| Preesall and Knott End-on-Sea | 4,679 | 33.3 | 9.7 | C |
Thornton records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Carleton, 1.5 miles away, records 12.3 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Thornton’s 27.6.
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 Thornton 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 Thornton
Is Thornton safe?
Police recorded 27.6 violent and sexual offences and 10.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Thornton’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 38% of UK towns. Among 318 UK towns of 13,000 to 26,000 people, Thornton is 124th from the least crime. 13% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
What are the safest areas of Thornton?
By council ward, Stanah, Pheasant's Wood and Marsh Mill record the least violent and household crime per resident: 17.6, 16.9 and 22.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 40.4 in Bourne.
Is crime going up in Thornton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 11%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 26%, shoplifting and theft rose 68% and anti-social behaviour fell 35%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Thornton?
Violence & sexual offences: 558 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (105) and shoplifting (93), with 261 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Thornton 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 Thornton’s 27.6 and 10.9, 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.