Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0More violent crime is recorded per resident in Leek than in 86% of UK towns
Set against the 645 UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 33% of them. Counting crimes police recorded inside Leek’s built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026, it grades C− for safety: #42 of 46 in Staffordshire. Violence recorded locally dropped 7% in a year. Year on year, 41.7 violent and sexual offences and 10.9 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Leek
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 7% less violent crime per resident in Leek than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 19% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 277 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000 people, Leek has the 189th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than South Ockendon, Gorleston-on-Sea and Prestatyn, higher than Swanley, Keynsham and East Ardsley. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The C− for Leek, and how it is built
A firm grade. Built on 3,058 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Leek against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Police in Leek identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 48% of Leek’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 6% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (68% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% of violent and 13% 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. 1,025 crimes.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Leek runs highest on possession of weapons (1.2 per 1,000 against 0.7), anti-social behaviour (16.9 per 1,000 against 12.4) and public order (7.2 per 1,000 against 5.4). Shoplifting and other crime sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 737 | 38 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 327 | 16.9 | 12.4 |
| Public order | not graded | 140 | 7.2 | 5.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 135 | 7 | 6.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 100 | 5.2 | 6.1 |
| Other theft | not graded | 95 | 4.9 | 4.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 53 | 2.7 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 48 | 2.5 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 48 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 28 | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 23 | 1.2 | 0.7 |
| Robbery | Violent | 12 | 0.6 | 0.5 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 10 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.1 | 0.3 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
How Leek’s neighbourhoods rank in England
29% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 9% 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.
Leek’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.
Crime in Leek 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 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 11 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Leek is 189th of 277 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 83 | Great Wyrley and Cheslyn Hay Staffordshire | 17,647 | 24.7 | 10.8 | 9.8 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 128 | Stone Staffordshire | 17,282 | 32.6 | 9 | 11.1 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 131 | Uttoxeter Staffordshire | 14,024 | 33.1 | 8.9 | 11.3 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 148 | Biddulph Staffordshire | 17,490 | 33.5 | 12.2 | 5.6 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 186 | Swanley Kent | 17,209 | 35.7 | 16.8 | 16 | C− |
| 187 | Keynsham Somerset | 19,257 | 39.1 | 13.4 | 9.4 | C− |
| 188 | East Ardsley West Yorkshire | 15,238 | 38 | 14.6 | 9 | C− |
| 189 | Leek Staffordshire | 19,388 | 41.7 | 10.9 | 15.6 | C− |
| 190 | Armthorpe South Yorkshire | 14,161 | 31.7 | 21 | 13.4 | C− |
| 191 | Lewes East Sussex | 16,066 | 37.5 | 15.6 | 19.4 | C− |
| 192 | Rothwell West Yorkshire | 20,964 | 35.4 | 17.9 | 10.2 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 277 | Skegness Lincolnshire | 20,701 | 79.4 | 27.6 | 41.7 | 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 Leek, and others in Staffordshire.
How crime in Leek has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 -7% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +19% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -44% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour +15% (towns its size -4%).
Lowest recorded crime in Leek West, Leek South and Leek North; highest in Leek East
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leek West | 4,414 | 23.6 | 6 | |
| Leek South | 4,894 | 37.1 | 11.2 | |
| Leek North | 5,539 | 51.6 | 11 | |
| Leek East | 4,541 | 52 | 15.3 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 538 | 71% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 313 | 44% violent |
| Shopping areas | 153 | 34% violent |
| Bus and coach stations | 66 | 45% anti-social behaviour |
| Petrol stations | 51 | 57% shoplifting & theft |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live. 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 Leek. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Leek’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
Two people died in collisions on Leek’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 66 collisions with injuries inside Leek in five years, in which two people died (1 was a pedestrian). 29 people were killed or seriously injured: 10 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Leek’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Leek’s own rate (2.1) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Leek had 29.9 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, above the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Leek’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Leek
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leek | 19,388 | 41.7 | 10.9 | C− |
| Cheddleton | 4,027 | 14.2 | 3.2 | A |
| Endon | 2,655 | 22.4 | 9.4 | B− |
| Biddulph Moor | 1,286 | 15.3 | 8.3 | B+ |
| Brown Edge | 2,374 | 15.3 | 7.7 | A− |
| Biddulph | 17,490 | 33.5 | 12.2 | C |
| Werrington | 6,012 | 31.5 | 7.4 | C+ |
| Harriseahead, Mow Cop and Newchapel | 3,637 | 18.2 | 7.9 | B+ |
Leek records more graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table. Cheddleton, 2.8 miles away, records 14.2 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Leek’s 41.7.
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 Leek 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 Leek
Is Leek safe?
Police recorded 41.7 violent and sexual offences and 10.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Leek’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 18% of UK towns. Among 277 UK towns of 14,000 to 26,000 people, Leek is 189th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Leek?
By council ward, Leek West, Leek South and Leek North record the least violent and household crime per resident: 23.6, 37.1 and 51.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 52 in Leek East.
Is crime going up in Leek?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 7%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 19%, shoplifting and theft fell 44% and anti-social behaviour rose 15%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Leek?
Violence & sexual offences: 737 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (140) and criminal damage & arson (135), with 327 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Leek compare with Stoke-on-Trent?
Stoke-on-Trent records 55.1 violent and sexual offences and 23.4 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Leek’s 41.7 and 10.9, 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.