The Old Vicarage · Photo: Andrew Curtis · CC BY-SA 2.0Ovingham stands out for anti-social behaviour: 4.7 times the rate of a typical town its size
The overall Safety Grade is B−, which means close to the middle of UK towns, judged on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. On burglary, vehicle crime and damage it beats 58% of UK towns; on violent crime, only 41%. In a usual year, 26.0 violent and sexual offences and 8.6 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Ovingham
More crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Ovingham has the 925th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Wooler, Narborough and Helmsley, higher than Ninfield, Horton Kirby and Pateley Bridge. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Ovingham: B− for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 115 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Ovingham 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, Ovingham runs highest on anti-social behaviour (25.1 per 1,000 against 5.3).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 29 | 25.1 | 5.3 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 20 | 17.3 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 6 | 5.2 | 2.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 5 | 4.3 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 5 | 4.3 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 3.5 | 1.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 3 | 2.6 | 2.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 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.
Of 1,214 towns its size, Ovingham is 925th from the least graded crime
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 922 | Ninfield East Sussex | 1,296 | 23.7 | 10.8 | 4.9 | B− |
| 923 | Horton Kirby Kent | 1,247 | 16.3 | 18.2 | 4.3 | B− |
| 924 | Pateley Bridge North Yorkshire | 1,343 | 24.6 | 9.9 | 6.5 | B− |
| 925 | Ovingham Northumberland | 1,155 | 26 | 8.6 | 1.8 | B− |
| 926 | Great Yeldham Essex | 1,824 | 23.6 | 11 | 3.1 | B− |
| 927 | Brigstock Northamptonshire | 1,436 | 22.8 | 11.8 | 3.9 | B− |
| 928 | Stratton Cornwall | 1,928 | 25.3 | 9.4 | 5.5 | 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 Ovingham, and others in Northumberland.
Crime in Ovingham 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 3 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
18 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 40 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). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -46% (towns its size +3%).
No one died in a collision on Ovingham’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 2 collisions with injuries inside Ovingham in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Ovingham is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Ovingham’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; Ovingham had 1.
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 Ovingham’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Ovingham
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ovingham | 1,155 | 26 | 8.6 | B− |
| Prudhoe | 10,285 | 28.4 | 13.6 | C |
| Wylam | 1,661 | 7.4 | 6 | A+ |
| Stocksfield | 1,944 | 5.5 | 2.9 | A+ |
| Crawcrook and Greenside | 7,544 | 18.7 | 8.3 | B |
| Heddon-on-the-Wall | 1,300 | 11.7 | 6.5 | A |
| Chopwell | 2,530 | 53.8 | 23.7 | D− |
| High Spen | 1,933 | 20.8 | 8.6 | B |
Ovingham records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Prudhoe and Chopwell record more. Wylam, 1.8 miles away, records 7.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Ovingham’s 26.
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 Ovingham 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 Ovingham
Is Ovingham safe?
Police recorded 26 violent and sexual offences and 8.6 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Ovingham’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 45% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Ovingham is 925th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Ovingham?
Police recorded 18 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 40 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Ovingham?
Violence & sexual offences: 20 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (6) and criminal damage & arson (5), with 29 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.