Photo: Jo and Steve Turner · CC BY-SA 2.0Cherry Willingham records shoplifting at 2.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violence recorded locally climbed 54% in a year. Overall, it grades A− for safety (#7 of 61 in Lincolnshire). More crime per resident is recorded in 88% of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people. Annual rates stand at 15.3 violent and sexual offences and 5.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every thousand residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Cherry Willingham
Less crime than most places its size
Of 1,089 UK towns of 2,000 to 5,000 people, Cherry Willingham has the 203rd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Hook Norton, Purton and Repton, higher than Radford Semele, Farnsfield and Alderholt. 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. 69% of Cherry Willingham’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 54% more violent crime per resident in Cherry Willingham than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Cherry Willingham’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 210 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Cherry Willingham 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 Cherry Willingham 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 +54% (towns its size +1%), shoplifting and theft -41% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -10% (towns its size +0%).
Most Cherry Willingham residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
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.
Cherry Willingham’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, Cherry Willingham runs highest on shoplifting (4.9 per 1,000 against 1.8) and anti-social behaviour (11 per 1,000 against 8.8). Violence & sexual offences and criminal damage & arson sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 61 | 17.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 38 | 11 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 17 | 4.9 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 12 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 10 | 2.9 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 5 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 0.9 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.6 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 0.6 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.6 | 0.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
| 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.
Cherry Willingham against towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Cranwell Lincolnshire | 2,583 | 8.4 | 1 | 1.4 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 7 | Langtoft Lincolnshire | 2,010 | 4.3 | 5.3 | 1.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Goxhill Lincolnshire | 2,324 | 7.9 | 3.9 | 4.2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Long Bennington Lincolnshire | 2,149 | 9 | 7.6 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 200 | Radford Semele Warwickshire | 2,301 | 12.8 | 7.4 | 2.5 | A− |
| 201 | Farnsfield Nottinghamshire | 3,217 | 10.3 | 10 | 6.4 | A− |
| 202 | Alderholt Dorset | 2,868 | 9.9 | 10.3 | 5.1 | A− |
| 203 | Cherry Willingham Lincolnshire | 3,446 | 15.3 | 5 | 9.9 | A− |
| 204 | Bugbrooke Northamptonshire | 3,040 | 16.3 | 4.1 | 2.4 | A− |
| 205 | Kingston Bagpuize Oxfordshire | 3,905 | 16.1 | 4.3 | 2.5 | A− |
| 206 | Kingswood Surrey | 3,757 | 12 | 8.3 | 2.6 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 1089 | 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 Cherry Willingham, and others in Lincolnshire.
Crime in Cherry Willingham 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 5 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 8 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
One person died in collisions on Cherry Willingham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 9 collisions with injuries inside Cherry Willingham in five years, in which one person died (1 was a pedestrian). 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 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; Cherry Willingham’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Cherry Willingham’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; Cherry Willingham 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 Cherry Willingham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Cherry Willingham
Cherry Willingham records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Washingborough and Heighington, 1.7 miles away, records 13.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Cherry Willingham’s 15.3.
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
- 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 Cherry Willingham 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 Cherry Willingham
Is Cherry Willingham safe?
Police recorded 15.3 violent and sexual offences and 5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Cherry Willingham’s built-up area). That earns an A− for safety: less crime per resident than 82% of UK towns. Among 1,089 UK towns of 2,000 to 5,000 people, Cherry Willingham is 203rd from the least crime. 69% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Cherry Willingham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 54%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 13%, shoplifting and theft fell 41% and anti-social behaviour fell 10%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Cherry Willingham?
Violence & sexual offences: 61 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (17) and criminal damage & arson (12), with 38 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Cherry Willingham compare with Lincoln?
Lincoln records 56.1 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Cherry Willingham’s 15.3 and 5, 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.