Photo: Peter Fleming · CC BY-SA 2.0Burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident is lower in Prees Higher Heath than in 96% of UK towns
Overall, Prees Higher Heath grades A for safety: less crime per resident than 88% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Measured against the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, 77% of them record more crime per resident. Year on year, 14.4 violent and sexual offences and 3.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 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 Prees Higher Heath
Less crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Prees Higher Heath has the 298th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Hallow, East Bridgford and Haslingfield, higher than Pant, Findern and Lower Halstow. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Prees Higher Heath’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 65 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Prees Higher Heath against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Set against 1,214 towns its size, Prees Higher Heath is 298th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 257 | Edgmond Shropshire | 1,560 | 10.7 | 6 | 1.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 295 | Pant Shropshire | 1,173 | 13.2 | 4.4 | 5.8 | A |
| 296 | Findern Derbyshire | 1,608 | 12.7 | 5 | 2.1 | A |
| 297 | Lower Halstow Kent | 1,210 | 10.5 | 7.2 | 3.3 | A |
| 298 | Prees Higher Heath Shropshire | 1,226 | 14.4 | 3.3 | 1.6 | A |
| 299 | Scole Norfolk | 1,037 | 13.8 | 3.9 | 0.6 | A |
| 300 | Penrhyn-coch Dyfed | 1,378 | 15 | 2.7 | 1.9 | A |
| 301 | Brandesburton East Riding of Yorkshire | 1,335 | 12.7 | 5 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 472 | Morda Shropshire | 1,976 | 17.1 | 4.1 | 1.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 480 | Alveley Shropshire | 1,505 | 11.7 | 9.5 | 1.8 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 728 | Llanymynech Shropshire | 1,040 | 20.9 | 6.1 | 0.7 | 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 Prees Higher Heath, and others in Shropshire.
Crime in Prees Higher Heath 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 3 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 2 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
Against the typical town its size, Prees Higher Heath runs highest on violence & sexual offences (19.6 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 24 | 19.6 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 3 | 2.4 | 3.2 |
| Other theft | not graded | 2 | 1.6 | 2.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 2 | 1.6 | 5.3 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.8 | 1.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 1 | 0.8 | 1.1 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Public order | not graded | 0 | 0 | 2.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 0 | 0 | 1.6 |
| 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 |
| 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.
24 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 11 the year before
“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 Prees Higher Heath’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 0 collisions with injuries inside Prees Higher Heath in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people (94%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Prees Higher Heath is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Prees Higher Heath’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; Prees Higher Heath had 0.
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 Prees Higher Heath’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Prees Higher Heath
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prees Higher Heath | 1,226 | 14.4 | 3.3 | A |
| Prees | 1,013 | 23 | 4.6 | B |
| Whitchurch | 9,856 | 29.1 | 9.4 | C+ |
| Wem | 6,287 | 29.4 | 10 | C+ |
| Market Drayton | 12,062 | 33.2 | 10.8 | C |
| Audlem | 1,833 | 16 | 8 | B+ |
| Malpas | 1,361 | 40.2 | 10.5 | C− |
| Shawbury | 1,962 | 24 | 6.3 | B |
Prees Higher Heath records less graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.
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 Prees Higher Heath 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 Prees Higher Heath
Is Prees Higher Heath safe?
Police recorded 14.4 violent and sexual offences and 3.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Prees Higher Heath’s built-up area). That earns an A for safety: less crime per resident than 88% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Prees Higher Heath is 298th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Prees Higher Heath?
Police recorded 24 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 11 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Prees Higher Heath?
Violence & sexual offences: 24 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (3) and other theft (2), with 2 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Prees Higher Heath compare with Shrewsbury?
Shrewsbury records 37.4 violent and sexual offences and 12.6 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Prees Higher Heath’s 14.4 and 3.3, 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.