Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0Fakenham stands out for shoplifting: 5.1 times the rate of a typical town its size
It has less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 68% of UK towns, but less violent crime than only 37%. Taking everything together, Fakenham scores B− (#29 of 51 in Norfolk): close to the middle of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 47% in a year. Annual rates stand at 27.7 violent and sexual offences and 7.3 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 Fakenham
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 47% more violent crime per resident in Fakenham than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 85% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Fakenham has the 196th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Pontarddulais, New Mills and Sawbridgeworth, higher than Ruddington, Catshill and Lutterworth. 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. 18% of Fakenham’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.
What sits behind Fakenham’s B−
A fairly firm grade. Built on 880 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Fakenham 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 Fakenham 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 +47% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +85% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -7% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +58% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Fakenham runs highest on shoplifting (9.3 per 1,000 against 1.8), drugs (3.1 per 1,000 against 1) and anti-social behaviour (14.7 per 1,000 against 8.8). Vehicle crime sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 287 | 34.2 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 123 | 14.7 | 8.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 78 | 9.3 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 56 | 6.7 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 40 | 4.8 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 36 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 26 | 3.1 | 1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 18 | 2.1 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 13 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 11 | 1.3 | 2 |
| Robbery | Violent | 7 | 0.8 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 6 | 0.7 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 6 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 5 | 0.6 | 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.
Police in Fakenham identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 52% of Fakenham’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” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 17% of violent and 4% 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. 245 crimes.
1 in 6 Fakenham residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
22% 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.
Fakenham’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.
Fakenham is 196th of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 55 | Poringland Norfolk | 7,105 | 19 | 5.3 | 3.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 99 | Aylsham Norfolk | 7,183 | 22.1 | 6.3 | 6.5 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 109 | Hethersett Norfolk | 7,018 | 22.1 | 6.8 | 6.9 | B |
| 110 | Sheringham Norfolk | 7,087 | 20.9 | 8 | 6.4 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 193 | Ruddington Nottinghamshire | 7,491 | 23 | 11.6 | 5.5 | B− |
| 194 | Catshill Worcestershire | 10,173 | 25.1 | 9.6 | 6.3 | B− |
| 195 | Lutterworth Leicestershire | 10,519 | 22.8 | 11.9 | 12.6 | B− |
| 196 | Fakenham Norfolk | 8,390 | 27.7 | 7.3 | 15.3 | B− |
| 197 | Princes Risborough Buckinghamshire | 7,528 | 26.2 | 8.9 | 15.6 | C+ |
| 198 | Rawdon West Yorkshire | 6,738 | 21.7 | 13.6 | 4.5 | C+ |
| 199 | Yatton Somerset | 7,704 | 26.6 | 8.9 | 6.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 430 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Fakenham, and others in Norfolk.
Crime in Fakenham 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 15 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 Fakenham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 26 collisions with injuries inside Fakenham in five years, in which one person died. 7 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 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, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Fakenham’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Fakenham’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 7 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Fakenham had 7.
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 Fakenham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Fakenham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fakenham | 8,390 | 27.7 | 7.3 | B− |
| North Elmham | 1,172 | 11.4 | 5.1 | A |
| Foulsham | 1,025 | 21.1 | 3.6 | B+ |
| Melton Constable | 1,176 | 19 | 3.7 | A− |
| Wells-next-the-Sea | 2,151 | 26.2 | 11.8 | C+ |
| Briston | 1,983 | 14.1 | 6.2 | A− |
| Swanton Morley | 2,175 | 15.8 | 3.5 | A− |
| Holt | 4,014 | 29.2 | 11.7 | C |
Fakenham records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Wells-next-the-Sea and Holt record more. North Elmham, 7.2 miles away, records 11.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Fakenham’s 27.7.
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 Fakenham 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 Fakenham
Is Fakenham safe?
Police recorded 27.7 violent and sexual offences and 7.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Fakenham’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 45% of UK towns. Among 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Fakenham is 196th from the least crime. 18% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Fakenham?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 47%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 85%, shoplifting and theft fell 7% and anti-social behaviour rose 58%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Fakenham?
Violence & sexual offences: 287 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (78) and criminal damage & arson (56), with 123 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Fakenham compare with Dereham?
Dereham records 37.3 violent and sexual offences and 10.5 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Fakenham’s 27.7 and 7.3, 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.