Photo: Kelly · CC0Lakenheath beats 67% of UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people on crime per resident
Recorded violent and sexual offences ran at 19.0 per 1,000 residents a year, and burglary, vehicle crime and damage at 8.9. Vehicle crime stands out: 3.5 per 1,000 residents in Lakenheath, against 2 in a typical town its size, with 16 recorded in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence recorded locally climbed 25% in a year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Lakenheath
Less crime than many places its size
Of 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Lakenheath has the 251st lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Elton, Bilton and Whitburn, higher than Lane End, Saxilby and Durrington. 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. 29% of Lakenheath’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% in one of the highest-crime 20%. Neighbourhood ranks ↓
Violent crime rose over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 25% more violent crime per resident in Lakenheath than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Lakenheath grades B for safety
A fairly firm grade. Built on 382 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Lakenheath 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, Lakenheath runs highest on vehicle crime (3.5 per 1,000 against 2), burglary (2.8 per 1,000 against 1.9) and other crime (2.2 per 1,000 against 1.5). Anti-social behaviour sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 91 | 19.9 | 22.4 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 21 | 4.6 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 18 | 3.9 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 16 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 13 | 2.8 | 1.9 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 12 | 2.6 | 8.8 |
| Other crime | not graded | 10 | 2.2 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 9 | 2 | 0.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 8 | 1.8 | 1 |
| Public order | not graded | 7 | 1.5 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 3 | 0.7 | 1.8 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 2 | 0.4 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0.1 |
“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.
How crime in Lakenheath has moved
“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 +25% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +100% (towns its size -1%).
1 in 4 Lakenheath residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
66% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 0% 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.
Lakenheath’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.
Towns its size: Lakenheath comes 251st of 706
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 5 | Little Eriswell Suffolk | 4,120 | 8.6 | 1.4 | 0.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 24 | Worlingham Suffolk | 3,618 | 10.3 | 4.4 | 2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 55 | Trimley St Mary Suffolk | 3,736 | 13.7 | 4.2 | 3.2 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 115 | Rendlesham Suffolk | 3,185 | 17.2 | 4.9 | 1.7 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 248 | Lane End Buckinghamshire | 3,446 | 20.9 | 6.9 | 4 | B |
| 249 | Saxilby Lincolnshire | 4,432 | 19.4 | 8.4 | 3.2 | B |
| 250 | Durrington Wiltshire | 5,718 | 19.4 | 8.5 | 4.3 | B |
| 251 | Lakenheath Suffolk | 4,567 | 19 | 8.9 | 4.1 | B |
| 252 | Branston Lincolnshire | 4,285 | 22.6 | 5.3 | 5.4 | B |
| 253 | Warboys Cambridgeshire | 4,318 | 21.4 | 6.6 | 3.4 | B |
| 254 | Llantwit Major South Glamorgan | 5,348 | 21.4 | 6.6 | 13 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 706 | Eastchurch Kent | 3,381 | 132 | 13.9 | 3.5 | 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 Lakenheath, and others in Suffolk.
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 72% of Lakenheath’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (63% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 4% 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. 125 crimes.
Crime in Lakenheath 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 5 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 Lakenheath’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 13 collisions with injuries inside Lakenheath in five years. 2 people were killed or seriously injured: 1 on foot and 0 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Lakenheath is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Lakenheath’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 4 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Lakenheath had 2.
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 Lakenheath’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Lakenheath
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lakenheath | 4,567 | 19 | 8.9 | B |
| Little Eriswell | 4,120 | 8.6 | 1.4 | A+ |
| Beck Row | 4,129 | 24.1 | 10 | B− |
| Hockwold cum Wilton | 1,303 | 12 | 6.1 | A |
| Mildenhall | 9,684 | 38.8 | 13.9 | C− |
| Brandon | 9,218 | 31.8 | 12.1 | C |
| Feltwell | 2,919 | 11.1 | 4.6 | A |
| Weeting | 1,883 | 13.1 | 6 | A |
Lakenheath records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Little Eriswell, 1.9 miles away, records 8.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Lakenheath’s 19.
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 Lakenheath 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 Lakenheath
Is Lakenheath safe?
Police recorded 19 violent and sexual offences and 8.9 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Lakenheath’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 61% of UK towns. Among 706 UK towns of 3,000 to 6,000 people, Lakenheath is 251st from the least crime. 29% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Lakenheath?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime rose 25%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 100%, shoplifting and theft rose 53% and anti-social behaviour rose 20%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Lakenheath?
Violence & sexual offences: 91 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (21) and other theft (18), with 12 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Lakenheath compare with Thetford?
Thetford records 43.9 violent and sexual offences and 15.7 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Lakenheath’s 19 and 8.9, 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.