Photo: Stephen Kirkman · CC BY-SA 4.0Fishbourne records other theft at 2.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Behind the grade sit 28.8 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people a year. Set against the 1,308 UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, it has less crime per resident than 29% of them. Even so, recorded violence fell 28% 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 Fishbourne
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 28% less violent crime per resident in Fishbourne than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
More crime than many places its size
Of 1,089 UK towns of 2,000 to 5,000 people, Fishbourne has the 844th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Ash (Dover), Dymchurch and Narberth, higher than Westward Ho!, Amlwch and Llanfairfechan. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
The grade: C for Fishbourne
A fairly firm grade. Built on 422 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Fishbourne 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 Fishbourne 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 -28% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +0% (towns its size -1%), shoplifting and theft +7% (towns its size +2%), anti-social behaviour -33% (towns its size +0%).
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Fishbourne runs highest on other theft (9.2 per 1,000 against 3.2), criminal damage & arson (7.1 per 1,000 against 4.5) and public order (5.3 per 1,000 against 3.6).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 77 | 22.9 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 34 | 10.1 | 8.8 |
| Other theft | not graded | 31 | 9.2 | 3.2 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 24 | 7.1 | 4.5 |
| Public order | not graded | 18 | 5.3 | 3.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 8 | 2.4 | 1.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 8 | 2.4 | 1.9 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 7 | 2.1 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 4 | 1.2 | 0.1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 3 | 0.9 | 1.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.3 | 0.2 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.3 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 0 | 0 | 0.4 |
“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 Fishbourne’s neighbourhoods rank in England
79% 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.
Fishbourne’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.
Police in Fishbourne identify a suspect less often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 83% of Fishbourne’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 19% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (60% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 7% of violent and 0% 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. 158 crimes.
Fishbourne is 844th of 1,089 UK towns of 2,000 to 5,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 40 | West Chiltington West Sussex | 3,095 | 7.3 | 6.4 | 1.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 48 | Rudgwick West Sussex | 2,145 | 10.4 | 4 | 2.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 62 | Upper Beeding West Sussex | 3,100 | 8.8 | 6.2 | 3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 111 | Ashington West Sussex | 2,688 | 12 | 5.2 | 4.6 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 841 | Westward Ho! Devon | 3,468 | 33.2 | 8.6 | 6.8 | C |
| 842 | Amlwch Gwynedd | 3,148 | 34.3 | 7.5 | 4.2 | C |
| 843 | Llanfairfechan Clwyd | 3,547 | 33.6 | 8.3 | 5.2 | C |
| 844 | Fishbourne West Sussex | 3,368 | 28.8 | 13.1 | 13.5 | C |
| 845 | Mancetter and Witherley Warwickshire | 2,689 | 29.3 | 12.6 | 3.2 | C |
| 846 | Maesycwmmer Gwent | 2,095 | 28.8 | 13.2 | 4.3 | C |
| 847 | Hanslope Buckinghamshire | 2,161 | 30.4 | 11.7 | 2.5 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 1089 | 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 Fishbourne, and others in West Sussex.
Crime in Fishbourne 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 13 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 Fishbourne’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 20 collisions with injuries inside Fishbourne in five years. 7 people were killed or seriously injured: 0 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 Fishbourne is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Fishbourne’s size at the median for UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people would see about 3 people killed or seriously injured in five years; Fishbourne had 7.
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 Fishbourne’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Fishbourne
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishbourne | 3,368 | 28.8 | 13.1 | C |
| Chichester | 31,709 | 50.1 | 19.3 | D |
| Bosham | 2,693 | 17.1 | 12.5 | B |
| Hunston | 1,154 | 19.6 | 14.4 | B− |
| Mid Lavant | 1,441 | 16.9 | 8.1 | B+ |
| Westhampnett | 1,238 | 43.4 | 15.4 | D |
| Hambrook and Nutbourne | 2,752 | 20.1 | 12.2 | B− |
| Southbourne | 4,150 | 22 | 12.9 | B− |
Fishbourne records more graded crime per resident than 5 of its 7 neighbours; only Chichester and Westhampnett record more. Bosham, 1.8 miles away, records 17.1 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Fishbourne’s 28.8.
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 Fishbourne 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 Fishbourne
Is Fishbourne safe?
Police recorded 28.8 violent and sexual offences and 13.1 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Fishbourne’s built-up area). That earns a C for safety: less crime per resident than 32% of UK towns. Among 1,089 UK towns of 2,000 to 5,000 people, Fishbourne is 844th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Fishbourne?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 28%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage held steady, shoplifting and theft rose 7% and anti-social behaviour fell 33%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Fishbourne?
Violence & sexual offences: 77 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came other theft (31) and criminal damage & arson (24), with 34 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Fishbourne compare with Bognor Regis?
Bognor Regis records 33.6 violent and sexual offences and 16.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Fishbourne’s 28.8 and 13.1, 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.