Photo: Tim Green aka atouch · CC BY 2.0Violent crime per resident is lower in Scarcroft than in 91% of UK towns
Police counts work out at 10.8 violent and sexual offences and 8.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents annually. Its Safety Grade, A, rests on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026: less crime per resident than 85% of UK towns.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Scarcroft
Less crime than many places its size
Of 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Scarcroft has the 375th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Houghton, Shaldon and Spofforth, higher than Weeting, Ewhurst and Hauxton. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
Scarcroft: A for safety, and why
A fairly firm grade. Built on 94 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Scarcroft 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
Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 12 | 7.3 | 16.6 |
| Public order | not graded | 4 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 4 | 2.4 | 5.3 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.8 | 1.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.2 | 3.2 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 2 | 1.2 | 1.5 |
| Other crime | not graded | 2 | 1.2 | 1.1 |
| Robbery | Violent | 2 | 1.2 | 0 |
| Other theft | not graded | 1 | 0.6 | 2.5 |
| Drugs | not graded | 1 | 0.6 | 0.6 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Possession of weapons | 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.
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.
Crime in Scarcroft 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 4 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 1 shoplifting and theft report, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Of 1,214 towns its size, Scarcroft is 375th from the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clipsham Rutland | 1,150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 84 | East Keswick West Yorkshire | 1,145 | 6.4 | 5.8 | 1.8 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 138 | Upperthong West Yorkshire | 1,094 | 10.7 | 3.4 | 0.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 174 | Bardsey West Yorkshire | 1,819 | 10.8 | 4 | 2.8 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 279 | Aberford West Yorkshire | 1,551 | 10.8 | 6.5 | 3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 372 | Weeting Norfolk | 1,883 | 13.1 | 6 | 2.7 | A |
| 373 | Ewhurst Surrey | 1,517 | 9.9 | 9.2 | 1.5 | A |
| 374 | Hauxton Cambridgeshire | 1,322 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 3 | A |
| 375 | Scarcroft West Yorkshire | 1,634 | 10.8 | 8.4 | 2.5 | A |
| 376 | Hambleton North Yorkshire | 1,722 | 15.1 | 4.1 | 1.5 | A |
| 377 | Orwell Cambridgeshire | 1,147 | 10.5 | 8.7 | 2 | A |
| 378 | Modbury Devon | 1,687 | 13.6 | 5.6 | 4.3 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 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.
Graded crime per 1,000 residents a year, September 2023 to August 2026, counting from the least: towns ranked near Scarcroft, and others in West Yorkshire.
14 violent and sexual offences in the last 12 months, against 17 the year before
“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).
Rolling twelve-month rate, per 1,000 residents a year (longer windows for smaller places, where a few crimes swing a month).
One person died in collisions on Scarcroft’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 12 collisions with injuries inside Scarcroft in five years, in which one person died. 7 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, so with numbers this small a single collision changes the picture; Scarcroft’s one death is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Scarcroft’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; Scarcroft 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 Scarcroft’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Scarcroft
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scarcroft | 1,634 | 10.8 | 8.4 | A |
| Thorner | 1,397 | 18.4 | 6.9 | B+ |
| Bardsey | 1,819 | 10.8 | 4 | A |
| Shadwell | 1,452 | 14 | 9 | A− |
| East Keswick | 1,145 | 6.4 | 5.8 | A+ |
| Collingham | 2,362 | 15.1 | 7.5 | A− |
| Scholes (Leeds) | 2,270 | 13.5 | 9 | A− |
| Barwick in Elmet | 2,180 | 15.8 | 7.7 | B+ |
Scarcroft records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Bardsey, 1.4 miles away, records 10.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Scarcroft’s 10.8.
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 Scarcroft 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 Scarcroft
Is Scarcroft safe?
Police recorded 10.8 violent and sexual offences and 8.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Scarcroft’s built-up area). That earns an A for safety: less crime per resident than 85% of UK towns. Among 1,214 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,000 people, Scarcroft is 375th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Scarcroft?
Police recorded 14 violent and sexual offences in the 12 months to August 2026, against 17 in the 12 months before. With numbers this small, a few crimes change the rate a lot.
What is the most common crime in Scarcroft?
Violence & sexual offences: 12 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came public order (4) and burglary (3), with 4 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Scarcroft compare with Leeds?
Leeds records 65.4 violent and sexual offences and 29.8 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Scarcroft’s 10.8 and 8.4, 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.