Photo: Nigel Thompson · CC BY-SA 2.0Burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident is higher in Bottesford than in 71% of UK towns
Police recorded 26 cases of criminal damage & arson in Bottesford in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 8.5 per 1,000 against a typical 4.5. Weighing it all, Bottesford earns B− for safety (#11 of 50 in Leicestershire), with close to the middle of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area over September 2023 to August 2026. Recorded violence fell 23% in a year. Typical years here bring 18.0 violent and sexual offences plus 12.7 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Bottesford
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 23% less violent crime per resident in Bottesford than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Bottesford has the 480th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Kempsey, Ruspidge and Lechlade-on-Thames, higher than Harlington, South Brent and Lostwithiel. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Bottesford’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 278 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bottesford 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 Bottesford 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 -23% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +31% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -52% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -17% (towns its size +0%).
How Bottesford’s neighbourhoods rank in England
100% 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.
Bottesford’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, Bottesford runs highest on criminal damage & arson (8.5 per 1,000 against 4.5) and vehicle crime (3.6 per 1,000 against 2). Anti-social behaviour and violence & sexual offences sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 47 | 15.4 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 26 | 8.5 | 4.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 19 | 6.2 | 8.8 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 11 | 3.6 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 9 | 3 | 1.9 |
| Other theft | not graded | 8 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 7 | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 5 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 5 | 1.6 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
| 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.
Set against 856 towns its size, Bottesford is 480th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 97 | Huncote Leicestershire | 2,168 | 13.8 | 3.2 | 2.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 204 | Queniborough Leicestershire | 3,087 | 13.2 | 8.4 | 20.6 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 226 | East Goscote Leicestershire | 2,893 | 12.2 | 10.3 | 4.3 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 313 | Hathern Leicestershire | 2,351 | 13.6 | 11.8 | 5.2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 477 | Harlington Bedfordshire | 2,287 | 17.9 | 12.5 | 5.5 | B |
| 478 | South Brent Devon | 2,643 | 22.1 | 8.4 | 5.9 | B− |
| 479 | Lostwithiel Cornwall | 3,067 | 23 | 7.6 | 3.9 | B− |
| 480 | Bottesford Leicestershire | 3,046 | 18 | 12.7 | 7.1 | B− |
| 481 | Willingham Cambridgeshire | 3,912 | 21.1 | 9.6 | 4.8 | B− |
| 482 | Stewartby Bedfordshire | 2,546 | 21.3 | 9.4 | 10.3 | B− |
| 483 | Creech St Michael Somerset | 2,327 | 26.8 | 4 | 4 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Bottesford, and others in Leicestershire.
Crime in Bottesford 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 5 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 Bottesford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 4 collisions with injuries inside Bottesford in five years. 2 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 Bottesford is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bottesford’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Bottesford had 2.
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 Bottesford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Bottesford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bottesford | 3,046 | 18 | 12.7 | B− |
| Long Bennington | 2,149 | 9 | 7.6 | A |
| Aslockton | 2,173 | 19.7 | 4.3 | B+ |
| Barrowby | 2,041 | 14.5 | 8.2 | A− |
| Great Gonerby | 1,880 | 20 | 8.5 | B |
| Bingham | 10,109 | 20.5 | 10.3 | B− |
| Claypole | 1,352 | 13.3 | 4.7 | A |
| Grantham | 44,906 | 39.6 | 15.7 | C− |
Bottesford records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Bingham and Grantham record more. Long Bennington, 4 miles away, records 9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bottesford’s 18.
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 Bottesford 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 Bottesford
Is Bottesford safe?
Police recorded 18 violent and sexual offences and 12.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bottesford’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 54% of UK towns. Among 856 UK towns of 2,000 to 4,000 people, Bottesford is 480th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Bottesford?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 23%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 31%, shoplifting and theft fell 52% and anti-social behaviour fell 17%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Bottesford?
Violence & sexual offences: 47 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (26) and vehicle crime (11), with 19 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bottesford compare with Grantham?
Grantham records 39.6 violent and sexual offences and 15.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bottesford’s 18 and 12.7, 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.