Photo: Geographer · CC BY-SA 2.0Bures records criminal damage & arson at 3.2 times the rate of a typical town its size
Overall, Bures grades B− for safety: close to the middle 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 Bures
More crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Bures has the 902nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Tye Green, Meldreth and Southwick, higher than Foxton, Wymeswold and Milnthorpe. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Bures grades B− for safety
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
A fairly firm grade. Built on 119 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Bures against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
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.
Against the typical town its size, Bures runs highest on criminal damage & arson (10.1 per 1,000 against 3.2), anti-social behaviour (16.9 per 1,000 against 5.3) and violence & sexual offences (24.5 per 1,000 against 16.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 29 | 24.5 | 16.6 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 20 | 16.9 | 5.3 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 12 | 10.1 | 3.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 8 | 6.8 | 2.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 8 | 6.8 | 1.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 7 | 5.9 | 1.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 6 | 5.1 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 6 | 5.1 | 0.6 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 1.7 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 1 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Other crime | not graded | 0 | 0 | 1.1 |
| 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.
Bures is 902nd of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Bures, and others in Suffolk.
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 17 | Great Bricett Suffolk | 1,518 | 5.7 | 2 | 1.1 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 47 | Elmsett Suffolk | 1,001 | 7 | 3 | 0.3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 50 | Sutton Common Suffolk | 1,262 | 9 | 1.3 | 2.4 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 85 | Laxfield Suffolk | 1,004 | 9.3 | 3 | 2 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 899 | Foxton Cambridgeshire | 1,275 | 23.8 | 9.7 | 4.8 | B− |
| 900 | Wymeswold Leicestershire | 1,364 | 20.3 | 13.2 | 2.4 | B− |
| 901 | Milnthorpe Cumbria | 1,871 | 24.9 | 8.6 | 6.2 | B− |
| 902 | Bures Suffolk | 1,183 | 19.4 | 14.1 | 4.2 | B− |
| 903 | Newton Poppleford Devon | 1,918 | 25.6 | 8 | 2.7 | B− |
| 904 | Thornton Leicestershire | 1,030 | 21.4 | 12.3 | 3.2 | B− |
| 905 | Flockton West Yorkshire | 1,732 | 27.7 | 6 | 2.7 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 1214 | Ingoldmells Lincolnshire | 1,928 | 259 | 64.7 | 57.2 | D− |
Safety letters rank against every UK town of 1,000 or more; the order here is context only.
For every 1,000 residents, about 26 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026
And about 23 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
A crime isn’t a victim: one person can report several, and crimes in a town centre often involve visitors rather than residents.
31 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 19 the year before
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month).
“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).
No one died in a collision on Bures’s roads in 2021–2025
Collisions police recorded inside Bures’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Police recorded 3 collisions with injuries inside Bures in five years. 3 people were 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 Bures is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Bures’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; Bures had 3.
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.
Crime in the places around Bures
Per 1,000 residents a year, the same three years. Tap a town for its safety page.
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bures | 1,183 | 19.4 | 14.1 | B− |
| Sudbury | 23,922 | 37.9 | 11.8 | C− |
| Earls Colne | 3,360 | 28.8 | 7 | C+ |
| Great Horkesley | 2,232 | 22 | 4.3 | B+ |
| West Bergholt | 3,175 | 18.6 | 5.6 | B+ |
| Eight Ash Green | 1,769 | 28.7 | 10.7 | C+ |
| Great Waldingfield | 1,377 | 20.1 | 3.6 | B+ |
| Halstead | 13,902 | 28.8 | 10.7 | C+ |
Bures records more graded crime per resident than 3 of its 7 neighbours. Great Horkesley, 5.2 miles away, records 22 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Bures’s 19.4.
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 Bures 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 Bures
Is Bures safe?
Police recorded 19.4 violent and sexual offences and 14.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Bures’s built-up area). That earns a B− for safety: less crime per resident than 47% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Bures is 902nd from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Bures?
Police recorded 31 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 19 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Bures?
Violence & sexual offences: 29 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (12) and public order (8), with 20 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Bures compare with Colchester?
Colchester records 51.1 violent and sexual offences and 17.1 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Bures’s 19.4 and 14.1, 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.