Photo: Steve Partridge · CC BY-SA 2.0Sharlston records criminal damage & arson at 2.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Of the 1,541 UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, 7% record more crime per resident. Recorded violence fell 17% in a year. Sharlston grades C− for safety overall: more crime per resident than 83% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. The local count comes to 41.8 violent and sexual offences and 12.0 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 people each year.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Sharlston
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 17% less violent crime per resident in Sharlston than in the year before; across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Sharlston’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 349 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Sharlston against every UK town of 1,000 or more.
Per resident, against all UK towns; beside it, how it compares with towns its size.
Police in Sharlston identify a suspect more often than across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 48% of Sharlston’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 7% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (74% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 9% 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. 109 crimes.
What police recorded in the last 12 months
Against the typical town its size, Sharlston runs highest on criminal damage & arson (8.8 per 1,000 against 3.2), violence & sexual offences (37.9 per 1,000 against 16.6) and public order (4.6 per 1,000 against 2.4).
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 82 | 37.9 | 16.6 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 19 | 8.8 | 3.2 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 15 | 6.9 | 5.3 |
| Public order | not graded | 10 | 4.6 | 2.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 8 | 3.7 | 2.5 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 8 | 3.7 | 1.6 |
| Other crime | not graded | 7 | 3.2 | 1.1 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4 | 1.8 | 0.6 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 3 | 1.4 | 1.5 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Robbery | Violent | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.5 | 0 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Bicycle theft | 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.
How Sharlston compares with UK towns of 2,000 to 3,000
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Richhill Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 2,738 | 6.2 | 2.8 | 3 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 88 | Shelley West Yorkshire | 2,696 | 12.7 | 5.7 | 3.1 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 99 | Shepley West Yorkshire | 2,515 | 11.7 | 7.3 | 1.9 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 161 | Scholes (Leeds) West Yorkshire | 2,270 | 13.5 | 9 | 2.6 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 165 | Collingham West Yorkshire | 2,362 | 15.1 | 7.5 | 5.2 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 498 | St Dennis Cornwall | 2,363 | 39.4 | 13.5 | 3.8 | C− |
| 499 | Buckfastleigh Devon | 2,720 | 42.2 | 11.1 | 5.2 | C− |
| 500 | Llanidloes Powys | 2,197 | 43 | 10.6 | 3.6 | C− |
| 501 | Sharlston West Yorkshire | 2,163 | 41.8 | 12 | 3.5 | C− |
| 502 | Builth Wells Powys | 2,620 | 41.8 | 12 | 7.7 | C− |
| 503 | Wickham Hampshire | 2,170 | 39.9 | 14.1 | 8.5 | C− |
| 504 | Tuxford Nottinghamshire | 2,810 | 36.3 | 17.9 | 5.7 | C− |
| … | ||||||
| 550 | Avonmouth Bristol | 2,643 | 82.9 | 54.6 | 60.4 | 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 Sharlston, and others in West Yorkshire.
How crime in Sharlston has moved
“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). In the 12 months to August 2026 against the 12 before: violent -17% (towns its size +3%), homes and vehicles +20% (towns its size +0%).
Crime in Sharlston 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 14 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 4 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 Sharlston’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 7 collisions with injuries inside Sharlston in five years. 1 person was 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 Sharlston is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Sharlston’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; Sharlston had 1.
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 Sharlston’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Sharlston
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sharlston | 2,163 | 41.8 | 12 | C− |
| Streethouse | 1,691 | 67.3 | 19.3 | D− |
| Crofton | 6,127 | 29.8 | 9.1 | C+ |
| Normanton | 21,976 | 44.6 | 16.5 | D |
| Featherstone | 11,657 | 62.1 | 17.8 | D− |
| Walton | 3,266 | 18.3 | 8.6 | B |
| Fitzwilliam and Kinsley | 4,993 | 59.9 | 16.7 | D− |
| Havercroft and Ryhill | 5,204 | 43.8 | 14.4 | D |
Sharlston records more graded crime per resident than 2 of its 7 neighbours. Crofton, 1 miles away, records 29.8 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Sharlston’s 41.8.
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 Sharlston 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 Sharlston
Is Sharlston safe?
Police recorded 41.8 violent and sexual offences and 12 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Sharlston’s built-up area). That earns a C− for safety: less crime per resident than 17% of UK towns. Among UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, Sharlston has less crime per resident than 7%.
Is crime going up in Sharlston?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 17%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 20%, shoplifting and theft held steady and anti-social behaviour held steady. Across UK towns of 1,000 to 2,500 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Sharlston?
Violence & sexual offences: 82 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came criminal damage & arson (19) and public order (10), with 15 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Sharlston compare with Wakefield?
Wakefield records 69.2 violent and sexual offences and 22.9 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Sharlston’s 41.8 and 12, 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.