Photo: Julian P Guffogg · CC BY-SA 2.0Compared with UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Broughton has less crime per resident than 69% of them
Police recorded 15 cases of burglary in Broughton in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 3.3 per 1,000 against a typical 1.9. Violent crime barely moved in a year. For every 51 residents, about one violent or sexual offence is recorded in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Broughton
Less crime than many places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Broughton has the 231st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Pewsey, Henfield and Littlestone-on-Sea, higher than Edwinstowe, Milton and Cuffley. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Inside Broughton’s B for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 369 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Broughton 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, Broughton runs highest on burglary (3.3 per 1,000 against 1.9), vehicle crime (3.6 per 1,000 against 2) and public order (4.4 per 1,000 against 3.6). Violence & sexual offences and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 82 | 18.2 | 22.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 20 | 4.4 | 3.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 18 | 4 | 4.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 16 | 3.6 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 15 | 3.3 | 1.9 |
| Other theft | not graded | 14 | 3.1 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 14 | 3.1 | 8.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 9 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 1.1 | 1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 2 | 0.4 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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.
How Broughton’s neighbourhoods rank in England
65% 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.
Broughton’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 Broughton identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 56% of Broughton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 4% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (67% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 4% of violent and 3% 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. 129 crimes.
Among 706 towns its size, Broughton ranks 231st for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 49 | Navenby Lincolnshire | 3,165 | 12.7 | 4.6 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 68 | Woodhall Spa Lincolnshire | 4,685 | 12.8 | 5.9 | 3.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 78 | Messingham Lincolnshire | 3,375 | 13.4 | 6.1 | 4.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 82 | Metheringham Lincolnshire | 3,524 | 15 | 4.9 | 3.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 228 | Edwinstowe Nottinghamshire | 5,327 | 18.7 | 8.5 | 4.6 | B |
| 229 | Milton Cambridgeshire | 4,150 | 15.7 | 11.5 | 27.2 | B |
| 230 | Cuffley Hertfordshire | 4,350 | 12.6 | 14.7 | 4.9 | B |
| 231 | Broughton Lincolnshire | 4,499 | 19.6 | 7.8 | 3.9 | B |
| 232 | Melbourn Cambridgeshire | 4,907 | 17.6 | 9.8 | 2.5 | B |
| 233 | Shenley Hertfordshire | 3,556 | 17.8 | 9.6 | 4.2 | B |
| 234 | Overton Hampshire | 4,350 | 19.1 | 8.3 | 4.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | 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 Broughton, and others in Lincolnshire.
Crime in Broughton 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 4 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 -3% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +145% (towns its size -1%).
No one died in a collision on Broughton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 11 collisions with injuries inside Broughton in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 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, and Broughton is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Broughton’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Broughton had 1.
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 Broughton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Broughton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Broughton | 4,499 | 19.6 | 7.8 | B |
| Scawby | 1,606 | 6.4 | 8.1 | A |
| Brigg | 5,637 | 48.6 | 18.7 | D |
| Wrawby | 1,194 | 8.1 | 5.3 | A+ |
| Scunthorpe | 81,286 | 58 | 24.6 | D− |
| Hibaldstow | 2,022 | 21.8 | 7.4 | B |
| Messingham | 3,375 | 13.4 | 6.1 | A− |
| Barnetby le Wold | 1,841 | 26.5 | 7.8 | B− |
Broughton records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Scawby, 2.5 miles away, records 6.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Broughton’s 19.6.
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 Broughton 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 Broughton
Is Broughton safe?
Police recorded 19.6 violent and sexual offences and 7.8 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Broughton’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 63% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Broughton is 231st from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Broughton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 145%, shoplifting and theft fell 5% and anti-social behaviour rose 17%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Broughton?
Violence & sexual offences: 82 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (20) and criminal damage & arson (18), with 14 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Broughton compare with Scunthorpe?
Scunthorpe records 58 violent and sexual offences and 24.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Broughton’s 19.6 and 7.8, 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.