Photo: DS Pugh · CC BY-SA 2.0Belford records less violent crime per head than 69% of UK towns
It has less crime per resident than 43% of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people. Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 17.5 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 9.4. From September 2023 to August 2026, crimes police recorded inside Belford’s built-up area put it at B for safety.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Belford
About the middle for a village its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Belford has the 718th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Four Lanes, Kislingbury and Delabole, higher than Gotham, Hurley and Brompton-on-Swale. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The B for Belford, and how it is built
A fairly firm grade. Built on 105 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Belford against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Towns its size: Belford comes 718th of 1,214
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 10 | Felton Northumberland | 1,270 | 3.6 | 3.1 | 0.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 25 | Stocksfield Northumberland | 1,944 | 5.5 | 2.9 | 1.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Longhoughton Northumberland | 1,173 | 6.9 | 3.3 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 116 | Wylam Northumberland | 1,661 | 7.4 | 6 | 16.2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 715 | Gotham Nottinghamshire | 1,566 | 15.5 | 11.3 | 3.2 | B+ |
| 716 | Hurley Berkshire | 1,317 | 19.7 | 7.1 | 3.5 | B+ |
| 717 | Brompton-on-Swale North Yorkshire | 1,899 | 19.5 | 7.4 | 3.3 | B |
| 718 | Belford Northumberland | 1,314 | 17.5 | 9.4 | 4.8 | B |
| 719 | Wenvoe South Glamorgan | 1,129 | 16.5 | 10.3 | 4.4 | B |
| 720 | Criccieth Gwynedd | 1,737 | 20.7 | 6.1 | 8.6 | B |
| 721 | Market Lavington Wiltshire | 1,810 | 19.3 | 7.6 | 2.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | 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 Belford, and others in Northumberland.
Crime in Belford 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 9 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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 18 | 13.7 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 8 | 6.1 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 6 | 4.6 | 2.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 4 | 3 | 0 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 3 | 1.1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 3 | 2.3 | 5.3 |
| Other theft | not graded | 2 | 1.5 | 2.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | 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.
15 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 19 the year before
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 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).
No one died in a collision on Belford’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2 collisions with injuries inside Belford in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Belford is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Belford’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 1 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Belford had 2.
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 Belford’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Belford
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belford | 1,314 | 17.5 | 9.4 | B |
| Seahouses and North Sunderland | 1,678 | 13.9 | 2.9 | A |
| Wooler | 1,930 | 23.8 | 11 | B− |
Belford records more graded crime per resident than 1 of its 2 neighbours; only Wooler records more. Seahouses and North Sunderland, 6.9 miles away, records 13.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Belford’s 17.5.
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 Belford 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 Belford
Is Belford safe?
Police recorded 17.5 violent and sexual offences and 9.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Belford’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 64% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Belford is 718th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Belford?
Police recorded 15 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 19 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Belford?
Violence & sexual offences: 18 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (8) and public order (6), with 3 reports of anti-social behaviour.
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.