Photo: Neil Owen · CC BY-SA 2.0Downside: recorded crime, not graded
On crimes police recorded inside Downside’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it has no Safety Grade. The town has fewer than 1,000 residents, and Safety is graded only from 1,000, where a handful of incidents no longer moves the rate a long way. Violence recorded locally climbed 22% in a year. The local count comes to 544.3 violent and sexual offences and 349.3 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Downside
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 22% more violent crime per resident in Downside than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Downside runs highest on other theft (669.3 per 1,000 against 2.5), vehicle crime (204.7 per 1,000 against 1.5) and public order (259.8 per 1,000 against 2.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Other theft | not graded | 85 | 669.3 | 2.5 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 73 | 574.8 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 33 | 259.8 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 26 | 204.7 | 1.5 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 18 | 141.7 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 16 | 126 | 3.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 15 | 118.1 | 0 |
| Other crime | not graded | 9 | 70.9 | 1.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 6 | 47.2 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 6 | 47.2 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4 | 31.5 | 0.6 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 23.6 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 1 | 7.9 | 1.6 |
| Bicycle theft | 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.
Police in Downside identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 0% of Downside’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 2% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (31% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 10% of violent and 4% 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. 109 crimes.
How crime in Downside has moved
“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 +22% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +10% (towns its size +0%), shoplifting and theft +13% (towns its size +4%).
Crime in the places around Downside
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Downside | 127 | 544.3 | 349.3 | — |
| Backwell | 4,347 | 13.5 | 7.1 | A− |
| Wrington | 1,997 | 18 | 9.2 | B |
| Long Ashton | 5,184 | 21.5 | 13.1 | B− |
| Nailsea | 15,919 | 18.8 | 8.4 | B |
| Chew Magna | 1,249 | 8 | 5.1 | A+ |
| Blagdon | 1,056 | 12.6 | 7.6 | A− |
| Congresbury | 2,795 | 33.4 | 10.7 | C |
Downside records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Backwell, 2.4 miles away, records 13.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Downside’s 544.3.
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 Downside 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 Downside
Is Downside safe?
Police recorded 544.3 violent and sexual offences and 349.3 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Downside’s built-up area).
Is crime going up in Downside?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 22%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 10%, shoplifting and theft rose 13% and anti-social behaviour rose 50%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Downside?
Other theft: 85 in the 12 months to August 2026. Next came violence & sexual offences (73) and public order (33), with 18 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Downside 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 Downside’s 544.3 and 349.3, 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) · 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.