Photo: Bikeboy · CC BY-SA 2.0For its size, Watton has less crime per resident than three in four UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people
It has less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 70% of UK towns, but less violent crime than only 36%. Overall, it grades C+ for safety (#31 of 51 in Norfolk). Violence recorded locally climbed 16% in a year. Each year brought 28.1 violent and sexual offences and 7.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage for every 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 Watton
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 16% more violent crime per resident in Watton than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 6% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, Watton has the 151st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Sawbridgeworth, Caister-on-Sea and Frimley, higher than Fakenham, Honley and Newport Pagnell. 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. 13% of Watton’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.
Watton: C+ for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,219 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Watton 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
Burglary and shoplifting sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 332 | 28.7 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 91 | 7.9 | 12.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 45 | 3.9 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 43 | 3.7 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 35 | 3 | 4.4 |
| Other crime | not graded | 19 | 1.6 | 1.8 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 17 | 1.5 | 6.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 17 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 17 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 11 | 1 | 2.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 11 | 1 | 0.7 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.3 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
1 in 8 Watton residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
38% 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.
Watton’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 Watton identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 55% of Watton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 9% 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 8% 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. 428 crimes.
How crime in Watton has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 +16% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -6% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -2% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +17% (towns its size -4%).
Watton places 151st of 428 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 4 | Taverham and Drayton Norfolk | 14,989 | 13.7 | 3.7 | 2.4 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 58 | Bradwell Norfolk | 11,632 | 19.3 | 8.8 | 6.3 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 106 | Attleborough Norfolk | 11,236 | 26.1 | 5.8 | 5.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Downham Market Norfolk | 11,349 | 24.6 | 9.3 | 9.1 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Fakenham Norfolk | 8,390 | 27.7 | 7.3 | 15.3 | B− |
| 149 | Honley West Yorkshire | 14,399 | 26.4 | 8.6 | 5.3 | B− |
| 150 | Newport Pagnell Buckinghamshire | 15,250 | 24 | 11 | 9.8 | B− |
| 151 | Watton Norfolk | 11,549 | 28.1 | 7.1 | 5.2 | C+ |
| 152 | Lymington Hampshire | 14,870 | 25.8 | 9.7 | 12.6 | C+ |
| 153 | Street Somerset | 12,707 | 28.3 | 7.3 | 12.4 | C+ |
| 154 | New Mills Derbyshire | 9,195 | 27.1 | 8.8 | 4.5 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 428 | Haverfordwest Dyfed | 12,088 | 91.4 | 28.6 | 32.3 | 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 Watton, and others in Norfolk.
Crime in Watton 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 6 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.
One person died in collisions on Watton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 51 collisions with injuries inside Watton in five years, in which one person died (1 was a cyclist). 12 people were killed or seriously injured: 3 on foot and 2 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Watton’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Watton’s own rate (1.7) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Watton had 20.8 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Watton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Watton
Watton records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Griston and Swaffham record more. Saham Toney, 1.6 miles away, records 11.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Watton’s 28.1.
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 Watton 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 Watton
Is Watton safe?
Police recorded 28.1 violent and sexual offences and 7.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Watton’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 44% of UK towns. Among 428 UK towns of 8,000 to 16,000 people, Watton is 151st from the least crime. 13% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Watton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 16%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 6%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 17%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Watton?
Violence & sexual offences: 332 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (45) and public order (43), with 91 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Watton compare with Thetford?
Thetford records 43.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Watton’s 28.1 and 7.1, 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.