Photo: Graham Robson · CC BY-SA 2.0Alnwick records shoplifting at 4.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
Of all the kinds of crime, shoplifting is where Alnwick departs most from towns its size: 8.5 per 1,000 against 1.8. Even so, recorded violence fell 36% in a year. Across all the graded crimes, Alnwick lands on D (#15 of 20 in Northumberland): more crime per resident than 87% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Alnwick
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 36% less violent crime per resident in Alnwick 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 held steady (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Alnwick has the 370th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Launceston, Boldon Colliery and Ushaw Moor and Bearpark, higher than Brierfield, Mablethorpe and Upton. 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. 15% of Alnwick’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 27% 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.
Inside Alnwick’s D for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 1,413 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Alnwick 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 Alnwick has moved
Northumbria Police published two months short or not at all (Jan 2026 and Feb 2026), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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 -36% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -1% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -34% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -38% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Alnwick runs highest on shoplifting (8.5 per 1,000 against 1.8), other crime (4.3 per 1,000 against 1.5) and drugs (2.3 per 1,000 against 1).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 267 | 31.7 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 144 | 17.1 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 74 | 8.8 | 4.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 72 | 8.5 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 61 | 7.2 | 3.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 36 | 4.3 | 1.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 28 | 3.3 | 3.2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 19 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 19 | 2.3 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 17 | 2 | 1.9 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 7 | 0.8 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 3 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.1 | 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.
Alnwick places 370th of 430 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 80 | Ponteland Northumberland | 10,149 | 20.4 | 6.2 | 9.3 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 271 | Prudhoe Northumberland | 10,285 | 28.4 | 13.6 | 9.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 284 | Seaton Delaval Northumberland | 8,012 | 30 | 12.9 | 19.6 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 290 | Stakeford Northumberland | 8,197 | 30.7 | 13.4 | 18.2 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 367 | Brierfield Lancashire | 10,723 | 41.3 | 16.3 | 6.2 | D |
| 368 | Mablethorpe Lincolnshire | 7,633 | 44.6 | 13.4 | 11.4 | D |
| 369 | Upton West Yorkshire | 6,332 | 40.7 | 17.4 | 7.1 | D |
| 370 | Alnwick Northumberland | 8,432 | 42.4 | 15.7 | 15.9 | D |
| 371 | Coleshill Warwickshire | 6,744 | 27.4 | 31 | 9.8 | D |
| 372 | Portrush Causeway Coast and Glens | 6,150 | 36.9 | 22 | 14.5 | D |
| 373 | Atherstone Warwickshire | 8,666 | 41 | 17.9 | 11.6 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Alnwick, and others in Northumberland.
For every 1,000 residents, about 33 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
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 13 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 12 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
1 in 7 Alnwick residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
22% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 27% 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.
Alnwick’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 name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 69% of Alnwick’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 32% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (0% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 3% of violent and 8% 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. 422 crimes.
Where in Alnwick police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 168 | 38% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 127 | 29% violent |
| Sports and recreation grounds | 28 | 32% drugs, public order & other |
police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Alnwick. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
No one died in a collision on Alnwick’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 36 collisions with injuries inside Alnwick in five years. 12 people were killed or seriously injured: 7 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, and Alnwick is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, Alnwick had 28.5 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 Alnwick’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Alnwick
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alnwick | 8,432 | 42.4 | 15.7 | D |
| Shilbottle | 1,787 | 12.6 | 8.1 | A− |
| Longhoughton | 1,173 | 6.9 | 3.3 | A+ |
| Warkworth | 1,412 | 16.5 | 9 | B+ |
| Amble | 5,852 | 30.9 | 17.3 | C− |
| Felton | 1,270 | 3.6 | 3.1 | A+ |
| South Broomhill | 1,520 | 46.8 | 1.6 | C− |
| Longframlington | 1,357 | 10.4 | 3.4 | A+ |
Alnwick records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Shilbottle, 2.6 miles away, records 12.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Alnwick’s 42.4.
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
- Some months are short. Northumbria Police published January 2026 and February 2026 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Alnwick 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 Alnwick
Is Alnwick safe?
Police recorded 42.4 violent and sexual offences and 15.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Alnwick’s built-up area). That earns a D for safety: less crime per resident than 13% of UK towns. Among 430 UK towns of 6,000 to 11,000 people, Alnwick is 370th from the least crime. 15% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Alnwick?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 36%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft fell 34% and anti-social behaviour fell 38%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Alnwick?
Violence & sexual offences: 267 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (74) and shoplifting (72), with 144 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Alnwick compare with Ashington?
Ashington records 53.4 violent and sexual offences and 27.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Alnwick’s 42.4 and 15.7, 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.