Photo: Llywelyn2000 · CC BY-SA 4.0Aberfan stands out for public order: 4.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
In a usual year, 42.1 violent and sexual offences and 10.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. Among the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, it records less crime per resident than 8%. Overall, it grades C− for safety. Violence recorded locally dropped 17% 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 Aberfan
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 17% less violent crime per resident in Aberfan than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 Aberfan’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 380 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Aberfan 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, Aberfan runs highest on public order (11.5 per 1,000 against 2.4), criminal damage & arson (8.6 per 1,000 against 3.2) and violence & sexual offences (34.6 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 84 | 34.6 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 28 | 11.5 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 22 | 9 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 21 | 8.6 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 9 | 3.7 | 2.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 8 | 3.3 | 1.1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 5 | 2.1 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 4 | 1.6 | 1.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 1.6 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.8 | 0.6 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | 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 1,000 to 2,500 people.
How Aberfan compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 42 | Pen-y-fai Mid Glamorgan | 2,301 | 10.3 | 5.1 | 2.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 331 | Nant-y-moel Mid Glamorgan | 2,378 | 24.8 | 6.6 | 3.4 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 429 | Pontycymer Mid Glamorgan | 2,421 | 33 | 7.2 | 7.4 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 451 | Trelewis Mid Glamorgan | 2,022 | 28.4 | 14.8 | 3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 493 | Broughton Lancashire | 2,468 | 31.1 | 20.4 | 9.1 | C− |
| 494 | Park Street and Frogmore Hertfordshire | 2,256 | 32.4 | 19.2 | 60 | C− |
| 495 | Hendreforgan Mid Glamorgan | 2,445 | 43.6 | 8.5 | 6.8 | C− |
| 496 | Aberfan Mid Glamorgan | 2,431 | 42.1 | 10 | 4.8 | C− |
| 497 | Sherburn County Durham | 2,796 | 30.8 | 21.7 | 6.9 | C− |
| 498 | St Dennis Cornwall | 2,363 | 39.4 | 13.5 | 3.8 | C− |
| 499 | Buckfastleigh Devon | 2,720 | 42.2 | 11.1 | 5.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Aberfan, and others in Mid Glamorgan.
How crime in Aberfan has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 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 -17% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +0% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Aberfan 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 12 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.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 69% of Aberfan’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 6% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (76% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 8% of violent and 0% 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. 121 crimes.
No one died in a collision on Aberfan’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 0 collisions with injuries inside Aberfan in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Aberfan is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Aberfan’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Aberfan had 0.
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 Aberfan’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Aberfan
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberfan | 2,431 | 42.1 | 10 | C− |
| Bedlinog | 1,098 | 36.1 | 14.9 | C− |
| Troedyrhiw and Pentrebach | 3,780 | 47.8 | 15.5 | D |
| Mountain Ash | 13,002 | 48.8 | 12.9 | D |
| Treharris | 5,042 | 24.7 | 11.6 | C+ |
| Abercynon | 6,376 | 39.9 | 13.5 | C− |
| Trelewis | 2,022 | 28.4 | 14.8 | C |
| Nelson | 4,235 | 28 | 16.3 | C |
Aberfan records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Bedlinog, 1.6 miles away, records 36.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Aberfan’s 42.1.
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 Aberfan 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 Aberfan
Is Aberfan safe?
Police recorded 42.1 violent and sexual offences and 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Aberfan’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 19% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Aberfan has less crime per resident than 8%.
Is crime going up in Aberfan?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 17%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 23% and anti-social behaviour rose 22%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Aberfan?
Violence & sexual offences: 84 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (28) and criminal damage & arson (21), with 22 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Aberfan compare with Merthyr Tydfil?
Merthyr Tydfil records 45.6 violent and sexual offences and 19.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Aberfan’s 42.1 and 10, 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 · Welsh Government Welsh Index of Multiple Deprivation 2025, community safety domain by LSOA · 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.