Photo: Christine Johnstone · CC BY-SA 2.0Amble stands out for anti-social behaviour: 4.1 times the rate of a typical town its size
Police recorded 209 cases of anti-social behaviour in Amble in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 35.7 per 1,000 against a typical 8.8. Taking everything together, Amble scores C− (#12 of 20 in Northumberland): more crime per resident than 76% of UK towns, measured on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area between September 2023 and August 2026. Violence recorded locally dropped 6% 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 Amble
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 6% less violent crime per resident in Amble 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 23% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Amble has the 488th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Callington, Market Warsop and Arborfield Garrison, higher than Whitfield, Haworth and Howden. Towns its size ↓
Neighbourhood ranks
50% of Amble’s residents live in a neighbourhood ranked in the highest-crime 20% of England (Indices of Deprivation 2025, crime domain), and 0% in the lowest-crime 30%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Amble: C− for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 821 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Amble 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, Amble runs highest on anti-social behaviour (35.7 per 1,000 against 8.8), shoplifting (5.8 per 1,000 against 1.8) and other crime (4.4 per 1,000 against 1.5).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 209 | 35.7 | 8.8 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 150 | 25.6 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 55 | 9.4 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 39 | 6.7 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 34 | 5.8 | 1.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 27 | 4.6 | 3.2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 26 | 4.4 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 19 | 3.2 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 9 | 1.5 | 2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 6 | 1 | 0.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4 | 0.7 | 1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
“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.
50% of Amble residents live in one of England’s highest-crime neighbourhoods
0% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 50% 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.
Amble’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.
Of 628 towns its size, Amble is 488th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 485 | Whitfield Kent | 6,509 | 33.2 | 14.7 | 16.8 | C− |
| 486 | Haworth West Yorkshire | 5,680 | 30.4 | 17.5 | 9.2 | C− |
| 487 | Howden East Riding of Yorkshire | 4,572 | 37 | 11.1 | 14.1 | C− |
| 488 | Amble Northumberland | 5,852 | 30.9 | 17.3 | 14.6 | C− |
| 489 | Pembury Kent | 5,783 | 36.8 | 11.5 | 8.5 | C− |
| 490 | Saltburn-by-the-Sea North Yorkshire | 5,874 | 31.7 | 16.5 | 21.5 | C− |
| 491 | Pill Somerset | 4,956 | 34.2 | 14.1 | 5 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 561 | Newbiggin-by-the-Sea Northumberland | 5,951 | 36.8 | 21.7 | 18.4 | D |
| … | ||||||
| 628 | 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 Amble, and others in Northumberland.
For every 1,000 residents, about 27 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 11 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
How crime in Amble 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 -6% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +23% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -17% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +30% (towns its size +0%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 71% of Amble’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 6% of violent and 5% 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. 327 crimes.
Where in Amble police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Petrol stations | 144 | 49% anti-social behaviour |
| Car parks | 82 | 51% anti-social behaviour |
| Supermarkets | 75 | 43% shoplifting & theft |
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 Amble. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Amble’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 17 collisions with injuries inside Amble in five years, in which one person died. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 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; Amble’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Amble’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 5 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Amble had 4.
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 Amble’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Amble
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amble | 5,852 | 30.9 | 17.3 | C− |
| Warkworth | 1,412 | 16.5 | 9 | B+ |
| Hadston | 2,713 | 36.2 | 22.9 | D |
| South Broomhill | 1,520 | 46.8 | 1.6 | C− |
| Shilbottle | 1,787 | 12.6 | 8.1 | A− |
| Felton | 1,270 | 3.6 | 3.1 | A+ |
| Widdrington Station | 2,495 | 30.3 | 13.3 | C |
| Alnwick | 8,432 | 42.4 | 15.7 | D |
Amble records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Warkworth, 1.3 miles away, records 16.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Amble’s 30.9.
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 Amble 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 Amble
Is Amble safe?
Police recorded 30.9 violent and sexual offences and 17.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Amble’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 24% of UK towns. Among 628 UK towns of 4,000 to 8,000 people, Amble is 488th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Amble?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 6%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 23%, shoplifting and theft fell 17% and anti-social behaviour rose 30%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Amble?
Violence & sexual offences: 150 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (55) and public order (39), with 209 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Amble compare with Blyth?
Blyth records 49.3 violent and sexual offences and 23.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Amble’s 30.9 and 17.3, 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.