Photo: The original uploader was Edward at English Wikipedia . · Public domainViolence recorded in Backwell is up 53% in a year, while towns its size held steady
It has less violent crime than 83% of UK towns, and less burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 70%. On top of that, the overall Safety Grade is A− (#3 of 49 in Somerset), which means less crime per resident than 81% of UK towns, judged on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 13.5 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 7.1.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Backwell
Less crime than most places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Backwell has the 96th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Iwade, Eglinton and Greenisland, higher than Heckington, Benson and Odiham. 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. 37% of Backwell’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 53% more violent crime per resident in Backwell than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: A− for Backwell
A fairly firm grade. Built on 267 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Backwell 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 Backwell has moved
“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 +53% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +67% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +5% (towns its size +2%).
A third of Backwell residents live in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
65% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Backwell’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.
Backwell places 96th of 706 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 75 | Saltford Somerset | 4,133 | 15 | 4.3 | 3.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 79 | Batheaston Somerset | 3,878 | 13.2 | 6.5 | 2.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 93 | Heckington Lincolnshire | 3,316 | 16.5 | 4 | 3.6 | A− |
| 94 | Benson Oxfordshire | 5,236 | 15.3 | 5.3 | 6.4 | A− |
| 95 | Odiham Hampshire | 5,091 | 13.8 | 6.7 | 5.7 | A− |
| 96 | Backwell Somerset | 4,347 | 13.5 | 7.1 | 5.1 | A− |
| 97 | Tandragee Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 3,545 | 13.9 | 6.8 | 2.3 | A− |
| 98 | Fairford Gloucestershire | 4,240 | 14.3 | 6.4 | 4.4 | A− |
| 99 | West Hallam Derbyshire | 5,912 | 14.9 | 5.8 | 2.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 196 | Milborne Port Somerset | 3,207 | 19 | 7 | 6.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 209 | Winscombe and Sandford Somerset | 4,605 | 18.8 | 7.7 | 4.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 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 Backwell, and others in Somerset.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Backwell runs highest on burglary (3.9 per 1,000 against 1.9), vehicle crime (3.5 per 1,000 against 2) and other theft (3.9 per 1,000 against 3.2). Violence & sexual offences and anti-social behaviour sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 67 | 15.4 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 22 | 5.1 | 8.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 17 | 3.9 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 17 | 3.9 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 15 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 8 | 1.8 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 8 | 1.8 | 3.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| 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 2,500 to 10,000 people.
Crime in Backwell 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.
Two people died in collisions on Backwell’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 20 collisions with injuries inside Backwell in five years, in which two people died (2 were pedestrians). 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 4 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; Backwell’s two people are context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Backwell’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Backwell had 5.
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 Backwell’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Backwell
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backwell | 4,347 | 13.5 | 7.1 | A− |
| Nailsea | 15,919 | 18.8 | 8.4 | B |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 21.5 | 13.1 | B− |
| Yatton | 7,704 | 26.6 | 8.9 | C+ |
| Wrington | 1,997 | 18 | 9.2 | B |
| Congresbury | 2,795 | 33.4 | 10.7 | C |
| Portishead | 26,351 | 27.9 | 8.3 | C+ |
| Clevedon | 21,084 | 24.2 | 8.5 | B− |
Backwell 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 Backwell 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 Backwell
Is Backwell safe?
Police recorded 13.5 violent and sexual offences and 7.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Backwell’s built-up area). That earns an A− for safety: less crime per resident than 81% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Backwell is 96th from the least crime. 37% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Backwell?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 53%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 67%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour rose 47%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Backwell?
Violence & sexual offences: 67 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (17) and burglary (17), with 22 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Backwell compare with Bristol?
Bristol records 55.3 violent and sexual offences and 25.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Backwell’s 13.5 and 7.1, 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.