Photo: Geof Sheppard · CC BY-SA 4.0Per resident, Williton records more crime than 98% of UK towns
Its letter for safety is D−, worked out from crimes police recorded inside Williton’s built-up area over September 2023 to August 2026. On top of that, it has more violent crime than 99% of UK towns, and more burglary, vehicle crime and damage than 89%. Violent crime was up 102% in a year. Per 1,000 residents a year, 69.9 violent and sexual offences and 18.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage were recorded.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Williton
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 102% more violent crime per resident in Williton 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’s behind Williton’s grade
A firm grade. Built on 644 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Williton 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 Williton 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 +102% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +172% (towns its size +0%), shoplifting and theft +75% (towns its size +4%), anti-social behaviour +0% (towns its size -1%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Williton runs highest on criminal damage & arson (23 per 1,000 against 3.2), public order (16.9 per 1,000 against 2.4) and violence & sexual offences (97.8 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 238 | 97.8 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 56 | 23 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 46 | 18.9 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 41 | 16.9 | 2.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 16 | 6.6 | 0 |
| Other theft | not graded | 16 | 6.6 | 2.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 9 | 3.7 | 1.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 6 | 2.5 | 1.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 4 | 1.6 | 0 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 3 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 3 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Drugs | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.6 |
| 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.
Police in Williton identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 2% of Williton’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 0% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (65% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 5% 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. 185 crimes.
How Williton compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | ||||||
| 540 | Maerdy Mid Glamorgan | 2,843 | 62.4 | 15.6 | 8.8 | D− |
| 541 | Bowness-on-Windermere Cumbria | 2,290 | 69.6 | 16 | 14.7 | D− |
| 542 | Llanhilleth Gwent | 2,450 | 63.8 | 23.4 | 6.3 | D− |
| 543 | Williton Somerset | 2,433 | 69.9 | 18.4 | 9.5 | D− |
| 544 | Winwick Cheshire | 2,062 | 79.2 | 13.1 | 5.5 | D− |
| 545 | Garden City Clwyd | 2,427 | 66.3 | 26.8 | 13.5 | D− |
| 546 | Denholme West Yorkshire | 2,960 | 68.5 | 25.8 | 9.6 | D− |
| … | ||||||
| 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 Williton, and others in Somerset.
Crime in Williton 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 28 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 14 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
No one died in a collision on Williton’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 12 collisions with injuries inside Williton in five years. 5 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 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 Williton is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Williton’s size at the median for UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people would see about 2 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Williton 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 Williton’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Williton
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williton | 2,433 | 69.9 | 18.4 | D− |
| Watchet | 3,643 | 34.4 | 11.4 | C |
| Nether Stowey | 1,483 | 15.7 | 1.4 | A |
| Minehead | 11,752 | 50.1 | 12.8 | D |
| Wiveliscombe | 2,316 | 29.4 | 7.8 | C+ |
| Bishops Lydeard | 2,050 | 24.6 | 8.8 | B− |
| Milverton | 1,112 | 17.7 | 4.8 | A− |
| Cotford St Luke | 2,411 | 27.7 | 9.3 | C+ |
Williton records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Watchet, 1.2 miles away, records 34.4 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Williton’s 69.9.
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 Williton 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 Williton
Is Williton safe?
Police recorded 69.9 violent and sexual offences and 18.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Williton’s built-up area). That earns a D− for safety: less crime per resident than 2% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Williton has less crime per resident than 1%.
Is crime going up in Williton?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 102%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 172%, shoplifting and theft rose 75% and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Williton?
Violence & sexual offences: 238 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (56) and public order (41), with 46 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Williton compare with Taunton?
Taunton records 56.2 violent and sexual offences and 15.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Williton’s 69.9 and 18.4, 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.