Photo: Thomas Harrison Hair · Public domainViolent crime in Wideopen fell 34% in a year, while towns its size held steady
Across all the graded crimes, Wideopen lands on B (#3 of 34 in Tyne and Wear): less crime per resident than 63% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Police recorded 35 cases of burglary in the town in the 12 months to August 2026, a rate of 3.8 per 1,000 against a typical 1.9. Recorded violent and sexual offences come to about one a year for every 57 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Wideopen
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 34% less violent crime per resident in Wideopen than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage rose 35% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
Less crime than most places its size
Of 487 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people, Wideopen has the 92nd lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Ballymoney, Cranleigh and East Leake, higher than North Baddesley, Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross and Seaton. 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. 20% of Wideopen’s residents live in one of the lowest-crime 10%, and 0% 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.
What’s behind Wideopen’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 722 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Wideopen 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 Wideopen has moved
Northumbria Police published two months short or not at all (Jan 2026 and Feb 2026), so the line breaks there and those months are left out of the rates. “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 -34% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +35% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +29% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour +144% (towns its size +0%).
1 in 5 Wideopen residents lives in one of England’s lowest-crime neighbourhoods
64% 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.
Wideopen’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.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Wideopen runs highest on burglary (3.8 per 1,000 against 1.9), anti-social behaviour (13.8 per 1,000 against 8.8) and other crime (2 per 1,000 against 1.5). Public order and violence & sexual offences sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 126 | 13.8 | 8.8 |
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 121 | 13.2 | 22.4 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 35 | 3.8 | 1.9 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 30 | 3.3 | 4.5 |
| Other theft | not graded | 24 | 2.6 | 3.2 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 22 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 22 | 2.4 | 3.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 18 | 2 | 2 |
| Other crime | not graded | 18 | 2 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 5 | 0.5 | 1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 2 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.1 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.2 |
“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.
Wideopen places 92nd of 487 towns its size, the least crime first
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barton on Sea Hampshire | 6,763 | 9.6 | 5 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 87 | Crawcrook and Greenside Tyne and Wear | 7,544 | 18.7 | 8.3 | 8.8 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 89 | North Baddesley Hampshire | 6,996 | 18.2 | 9 | 9.1 | B |
| 90 | Spencers Wood and Three Mile Cross Berkshire | 7,612 | 19.3 | 7.9 | 5.6 | B |
| 91 | Seaton Devon | 7,429 | 22.6 | 4.7 | 4.7 | B |
| 92 | Wideopen Tyne and Wear | 9,150 | 17.7 | 9.7 | 6 | B |
| 93 | Rhoose South Glamorgan | 6,776 | 20.3 | 7.2 | 4.7 | B |
| 94 | Tring Hertfordshire | 11,961 | 17.4 | 10.2 | 9.3 | B |
| 95 | Rogerstone Gwent | 7,546 | 17.5 | 10.1 | 9.6 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 122 | East Boldon and West Boldon Tyne and Wear | 6,795 | 16.9 | 12.4 | 13.2 | B |
| … | ||||||
| 268 | Ryton Tyne and Wear | 8,804 | 24 | 15.8 | 21.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 291 | Shiremoor Tyne and Wear | 6,965 | 27.8 | 13.7 | 17 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 487 | 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 Wideopen, and others in Tyne and Wear.
Police in Wideopen identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 75% of Wideopen’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 29% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (0% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 2% of violent and 1% 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. 238 crimes.
Crime in Wideopen 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 9 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 Wideopen’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 15 collisions with injuries inside Wideopen in five years. 4 people were killed or seriously injured: 2 on foot and 1 on a bicycle.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Wideopen is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Wideopen’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 8 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Wideopen had 4.
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 Wideopen’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Wideopen
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wideopen | 9,150 | 17.7 | 9.7 | B |
| Seaton Burn | 1,354 | 36.7 | 17.2 | C− |
| Dudley | 4,799 | 36.6 | 11 | C− |
| Dinnington | 2,366 | 20.1 | 8.1 | B |
| Killingworth | 12,180 | 30.2 | 16.1 | C |
| Longbenton | 26,882 | 28.3 | 15.4 | C |
| Seghill | 2,799 | 41 | 13.9 | C− |
| Cramlington | 28,846 | 31 | 14.4 | C |
Wideopen records less graded crime per resident than every neighbour in the table.
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
- Some months are short. Northumbria Police published January 2026 and February 2026 only in part or not at all. Those months are left out of the rates, which average the months that were published in full; the raw counts include what was published.
- 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 Wideopen 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 Wideopen
Is Wideopen safe?
Police recorded 17.7 violent and sexual offences and 9.7 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Wideopen’s built-up area). That earns a B for safety: less crime per resident than 63% of UK towns. Among 487 UK towns of 6,000 to 12,000 people, Wideopen is 92nd from the least crime. 20% of residents live in neighbourhoods in England’s lowest-crime 10%.
Is crime going up in Wideopen?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 34%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 35%, shoplifting and theft rose 29% and anti-social behaviour rose 144%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Wideopen?
Violence & sexual offences: 121 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came burglary (35) and criminal damage & arson (30), with 126 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Wideopen compare with Newcastle upon Tyne?
Newcastle upon Tyne records 47.8 violent and sexual offences and 24.2 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Wideopen’s 17.7 and 9.7, 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.