Photo: P.R. Clarke · Public domainPuriton sees less burglary, vehicle crime and damage per resident than 79% of UK towns
In a usual year, 19.6 violent and sexual offences and 6.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage are logged per 1,000 inhabitants. Recorded violence held steady in a year. Puriton grades B+ for safety overall: less crime per resident than 68% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Puriton
About the middle for a village its size
Of 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Puriton has the 222nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Great Barford, Netherton (Wakefield) and Watlington, higher than Lingwood, Swineshead and Gamlingay. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Puriton’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 174 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Puriton against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Crime in Puriton 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 6 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.
How crime in Puriton 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 +5% (towns its size +3%).
Set against 550 towns its size, Puriton is 222nd
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 57 | Tatworth Somerset | 2,287 | 11.7 | 5 | 2.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 97 | Merriott Somerset | 2,068 | 12.9 | 6 | 7.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 197 | Coleford Somerset | 2,235 | 17.5 | 6.9 | 5.1 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 201 | Timsbury Somerset | 2,506 | 18.8 | 5.9 | 10.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 219 | Lingwood Norfolk | 2,368 | 17.7 | 7.7 | 5.9 | B+ |
| 220 | Swineshead Lincolnshire | 2,653 | 20.9 | 4.7 | 5.8 | B+ |
| 221 | Gamlingay Cambridgeshire | 2,920 | 19 | 6.6 | 4.2 | B+ |
| 222 | Puriton Somerset | 2,265 | 19.6 | 6 | 1.8 | B+ |
| 223 | South Milford North Yorkshire | 2,409 | 19.5 | 6.1 | 10.7 | B+ |
| 224 | Comberton Cambridgeshire | 2,255 | 15.7 | 10.1 | 5.5 | B+ |
| 225 | Great Leighs Essex | 2,968 | 19.5 | 6.2 | 2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Puriton, and others in Somerset.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 41 | 18.1 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 12 | 5.3 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 6 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 2.6 | 1.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 5 | 2.2 | 2.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 3 | 1.3 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 2 | 0.9 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 0.9 | 1.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.9 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 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.
No one died in a collision on Puriton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 6 collisions with injuries inside Puriton in five years. 1 person was killed or seriously injured: 0 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 Puriton is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Puriton’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; Puriton 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 Puriton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Puriton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Puriton | 2,265 | 19.6 | 6 | B+ |
| Woolavington | 2,324 | 37.7 | 10.9 | C− |
| Bridgwater | 47,846 | 76.8 | 18.9 | D− |
| Wembdon | 1,772 | 9 | 5.6 | A |
| Highbridge | 5,366 | 82.7 | 18 | D− |
| Cannington | 2,315 | 20.5 | 5.8 | B+ |
| Westonzoyland | 1,463 | 19.4 | 4.8 | B+ |
| Burnham-on-Sea | 16,317 | 39.9 | 10.3 | C− |
Puriton records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Wembdon, 3.2 miles away, records 9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Puriton’s 19.6.
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 Puriton 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 Puriton
Is Puriton safe?
Police recorded 19.6 violent and sexual offences and 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 Puriton’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 68% of UK towns. Among 550 UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000 people, Puriton is 222nd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Puriton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 27%, shoplifting and theft rose 150% and anti-social behaviour fell 8%. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Puriton?
Violence & sexual offences: 41 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (6) and burglary (6), with 12 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Puriton compare with Bridgwater?
Bridgwater records 76.8 violent and sexual offences and 18.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Puriton’s 19.6 and 6, 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.