Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0Set against UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, Cricklade records less crime than 78%
Shoplifting runs at 3.7 per 1,000 residents in Cricklade, against 1.8 in a typical town its size: police recorded 15 in the 12 months to August 2026. Violence recorded locally dropped 24% in a year. The yearly rates were 17.9 violent and sexual offences and 6.5 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage per 1,000 residents.
Crimes and reports per 1,000 residents (Census 2021) a year, September 2023 to August 2026.
What stands out about safety in Cricklade
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 24% less violent crime per resident in Cricklade than in the year before; across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people violent crime held steady. Trend ↓
Less crime than many places its size
Of 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Cricklade has the 138th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Welton, Askam in Furness and Bramley, higher than Banks, Haddenham and Holton le Clay. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What sits behind Cricklade’s B+
A fairly firm grade. Built on 295 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Cricklade 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 Cricklade 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 -24% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles +18% (towns its size -1%), anti-social behaviour +77% (towns its size +0%).
How Cricklade’s neighbourhoods rank in England
65% 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.
Cricklade’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, Cricklade runs highest on shoplifting (3.7 per 1,000 against 1.8) and anti-social behaviour (11.4 per 1,000 against 8.8). Violence & sexual offences sits below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 69 | 17.1 | 22.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 46 | 11.4 | 8.8 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 19 | 4.7 | 4.5 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 15 | 3.7 | 1.8 |
| Public order | not graded | 15 | 3.7 | 3.6 |
| Other theft | not graded | 7 | 1.7 | 3.2 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 6 | 1.5 | 1.9 |
| Drugs | not graded | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| Other crime | not graded | 4 | 1 | 1.5 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 1 | 0.2 | 2 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 1 | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 1 | 0.2 | 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.
Among 539 towns its size, Cricklade ranks 138th for the least graded crime
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bailrigg Lancashire | 4,788 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 7.9 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 13 | Lyneham Wiltshire | 4,645 | 10.9 | 2.5 | 3.7 | A+ |
| … | ||||||
| 80 | Purton Wiltshire | 3,193 | 15.6 | 4.9 | 4.4 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 106 | Bulford Wiltshire | 4,923 | 17.3 | 5.2 | 3.1 | A− |
| … | ||||||
| 135 | Banks Lancashire | 4,439 | 18.3 | 6 | 2.7 | B+ |
| 136 | Haddenham Cambridgeshire | 3,050 | 16.2 | 8.1 | 3 | B+ |
| 137 | Holton le Clay Lincolnshire | 3,823 | 17.3 | 7.1 | 3.9 | B+ |
| 138 | Cricklade Wiltshire | 4,030 | 17.9 | 6.5 | 4.1 | B+ |
| 139 | Skellingthorpe Lincolnshire | 3,116 | 16.8 | 7.7 | 4.4 | B+ |
| 140 | Bignall End Staffordshire | 3,184 | 19.5 | 5 | 2.4 | B+ |
| 141 | Maghera Mid Ulster | 4,235 | 17.9 | 6.7 | 3.5 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 178 | Bowerhill Wiltshire | 3,976 | 19.1 | 7.6 | 6.2 | B+ |
| … | ||||||
| 539 | 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 Cricklade, and others in Wiltshire.
Crime in Cricklade 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 6 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 6 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 Cricklade’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 6 collisions with injuries inside Cricklade in five years. 0 people were killed or seriously injured.
Most UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people (81%) had no road deaths in these five years, and Cricklade is one of them.
Counting serious injuries too, a town of Cricklade’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; Cricklade had 0.
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 Cricklade’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Cricklade
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cricklade | 4,030 | 17.9 | 6.5 | B+ |
| Ashton Keynes | 1,425 | 6.6 | 4.2 | A+ |
| Broad Blunsdon | 6,507 | 20.8 | 7.4 | B |
| South Cerney | 3,998 | 11.2 | 4 | A |
| Purton | 3,193 | 15.6 | 4.9 | A− |
| Swindon | 183,687 | 35.7 | 12.3 | C− |
| Fairford | 4,240 | 14.3 | 6.4 | A− |
| Stratton St Margaret | 20,689 | 29.5 | 11.8 | C |
Cricklade records more graded crime per resident than 4 of its 7 neighbours. Ashton Keynes, 3.2 miles away, records 6.6 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Cricklade’s 17.9.
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 Cricklade 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 Cricklade
Is Cricklade safe?
Police recorded 17.9 violent and sexual offences and 6.5 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Cricklade’s built-up area). That earns a B+ for safety: less crime per resident than 71% of UK towns. Among 539 UK towns of 3,000 to 5,000 people, Cricklade is 138th from the least crime.
Is crime going up in Cricklade?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 24%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage rose 18%, shoplifting and theft rose 85% and anti-social behaviour rose 77%. Across UK towns of 2,500 to 10,000 people, violent crime held steady.
What is the most common crime in Cricklade?
Violence & sexual offences: 69 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 shoplifting (15), with 46 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Cricklade compare with Swindon?
Swindon records 35.7 violent and sexual offences and 12.3 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Cricklade’s 17.9 and 6.5, 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.