Photo: Jonathan Thacker · CC BY-SA 2.0Shepton Mallet stands out for robbery: 6.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Violent crime barely moved in a year. Its letter overall is C− (#37 of 49 in Somerset): more crime per resident than 83% of UK towns, from crimes police recorded inside its built-up area through September 2023 to August 2026. Of the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, 14% record more crime per resident. The local count comes to 43.6 violent and sexual offences and 10.4 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 Shepton Mallet
More crime than many places its size
Of 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, Shepton Mallet has the 321st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Queensbury, Aveley and Stocksbridge, higher than Flint, Clowne and Pershore. 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. 16% of Shepton Mallet’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 16% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Shepton Mallet: C− for safety, and why
A firm grade. Built on 1,561 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Shepton Mallet 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, Shepton Mallet runs highest on robbery (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.2), shoplifting (6.6 per 1,000 against 1.8) and public order (8.3 per 1,000 against 3.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 437 | 45.3 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 117 | 12.1 | 8.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 80 | 8.3 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 64 | 6.6 | 1.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 61 | 6.3 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 31 | 3.2 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 25 | 2.6 | 2 |
| Drugs | not graded | 22 | 2.3 | 1 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 21 | 2.2 | 1.9 |
| Other crime | not graded | 16 | 1.7 | 1.5 |
| Robbery | Violent | 13 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.2 | 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.
Police in Shepton Mallet identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 1% of Shepton Mallet’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” (48% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 5% 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. 446 crimes.
Shepton Mallet against towns its size
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Greasby Merseyside | 9,175 | 11.3 | 3.7 | 2.5 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 165 | Yatton Somerset | 7,704 | 26.6 | 8.9 | 6.5 | C+ |
| 166 | Street Somerset | 12,707 | 28.3 | 7.3 | 12.4 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 223 | Crewkerne Somerset | 7,067 | 32.7 | 8.2 | 12.7 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 285 | Wells Somerset | 12,097 | 37.3 | 11.5 | 17.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 318 | Flint Clwyd | 12,776 | 40 | 13.5 | 21.8 | C− |
| 319 | Clowne Derbyshire | 7,759 | 40.1 | 13.6 | 11.1 | C− |
| 320 | Pershore Worcestershire | 8,207 | 35.5 | 18.2 | 26.4 | C− |
| 321 | Shepton Mallet Somerset | 9,645 | 43.6 | 10.4 | 12.6 | C− |
| 322 | Snodland Kent | 11,820 | 32.7 | 21.2 | 18.1 | C− |
| 323 | Thurmaston Leicestershire | 9,509 | 34.3 | 19.7 | 16.1 | C− |
| 324 | Rhosllannerchrugog Clwyd | 12,789 | 38.7 | 15.8 | 9.6 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 411 | City of London London | 7,820 | 252.8 | 111.5 | 710 | 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 Shepton Mallet, and others in Somerset.
Crime in Shepton Mallet 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 11 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 10 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
1 in 6 Shepton Mallet residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
16% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 16% 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.
Shepton Mallet’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.
Violent crime held steady over the year
“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 -3% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +23% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft -8% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +4% (towns its size +0%).
Where in Shepton Mallet police recorded crime
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 249 | 48% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 139 | 42% violent |
| Shopping areas | 95 | 28% shoplifting & theft |
| Parks and open spaces | 83 | 46% violent |
police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Shepton Mallet. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
One person died in collisions on Shepton Mallet’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 39 collisions with injuries inside Shepton Mallet in five years, in which one person died. 10 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 3 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; Shepton Mallet’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Shepton Mallet had 21.3 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (16.7).
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 Shepton Mallet’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Shepton Mallet
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shepton Mallet | 9,645 | 43.6 | 10.4 | C− |
| Pilton | 1,104 | 30.5 | 7.9 | C+ |
| Evercreech | 2,165 | 24.3 | 7.5 | B− |
| Wells | 12,097 | 37.3 | 11.5 | C− |
| Chilcompton | 1,857 | 17.6 | 4.7 | A− |
| Coleford | 2,235 | 17.5 | 6.9 | B+ |
| Bruton | 2,816 | 25.9 | 12.4 | C+ |
| Castle Cary | 3,451 | 38.6 | 14.1 | C− |
Shepton Mallet records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Pilton, 2.3 miles away, records 30.5 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Shepton Mallet’s 43.6.
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 Shepton Mallet 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 Shepton Mallet
Is Shepton Mallet safe?
Police recorded 43.6 violent and sexual offences and 10.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Shepton Mallet’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 17% of UK towns. Among 411 UK towns of 7,000 to 13,000 people, Shepton Mallet is 321st from the least crime. 16% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Shepton Mallet?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime held steady, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 23%, shoplifting and theft fell 8% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Shepton Mallet?
Violence & sexual offences: 437 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (80) and shoplifting (64), with 117 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.