Photo: Colin Smith · CC BY-SA 2.0Warminster stands out for bicycle theft: 3.8 times the rate of a typical town its size
Year on year, 26.7 violent and sexual offences and 13.4 incidents of burglary, vehicle crime and damage occur per 1,000 residents. Violent crime here is higher than in 61% of UK towns; burglary, vehicle crime and damage, higher than in 74%. All told, Warminster grades C+ for safety (#21 of 30 in Wiltshire): more crime per resident than 65% of UK towns, on crimes police recorded inside its built-up area from September 2023 to August 2026. Recorded violence fell 10% 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 Warminster
Violent crime fell over the year
In the 12 months to August 2026 police recorded 10% less violent crime per resident in Warminster than in the year before; across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people violent crime held steady. Burglary, vehicle crime and criminal damage fell 29% (towns its size: held steady). Trend ↓
About the middle for a town its size
Of 292 UK towns of 13,000 to 24,000 people, Warminster has the 127th lowest rate of graded crime: lower than Melksham, Alton and Stratton St Margaret, higher than Mansfield Woodhouse, Chesham and Stowmarket. Towns its size ↓
Written from the police.uk and government data on this page. Figures are crimes police recorded, not convictions.
What’s behind Warminster’s grade
A fairly firm grade. Built on 2,160 graded crimes over three years. The grade adds violent and sexual offences and crimes against homes and vehicles per resident and ranks Warminster 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
Against the typical town its size, Warminster runs highest on bicycle theft (1.3 per 1,000 against 0.3), shoplifting (8.7 per 1,000 against 6.1) and anti-social behaviour (14.3 per 1,000 against 12.4). Other theft and burglary sit below it.
Show as a table
| Category | In the grade | Reports | Per 1,000 | Typical |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Violence & sexual offences | Violent | 441 | 24.5 | 30.4 |
| Anti-social behaviour | not graded | 257 | 14.3 | 12.4 |
| Shoplifting | not graded | 157 | 8.7 | 6.1 |
| Criminal damage & arson | Home & vehicle | 94 | 5.2 | 6.2 |
| Public order | not graded | 92 | 5.1 | 5.4 |
| Other theft | not graded | 60 | 3.3 | 4.4 |
| Vehicle crime | Home & vehicle | 56 | 3.1 | 2.8 |
| Burglary | Home & vehicle | 30 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
| Drugs | not graded | 29 | 1.6 | 1.9 |
| Bicycle theft | not graded | 23 | 1.3 | 0.3 |
| Other crime | not graded | 17 | 0.9 | 1.8 |
| Possession of weapons | Violent | 13 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Theft from the person | not graded | 7 | 0.4 | 0.3 |
| Robbery | Violent | 5 | 0.3 | 0.5 |
“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 10,000 to 50,000 people.
How crime in Warminster has moved
“Towns its size” pools all UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people that police.uk covers each month (Greater Manchester has no data).
Rolling six-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 -10% (towns its size +1%), homes and vehicles -29% (towns its size -2%), shoplifting and theft -24% (towns its size +1%), anti-social behaviour -20% (towns its size -4%).
Police name a suspect about as often as across UK towns
No suspect was identified for 64% of Warminster’s burglaries, vehicle crimes and criminal damage, against 69% across UK towns, and for 10% of violent and sexual offences against 19%. Most violent cases close as “unable to prosecute” (61% here), usually because the victim doesn’t support a prosecution. About 6% of violent and 7% 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. 756 crimes.
Crime in Warminster 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 10 burglaries, vehicle crimes or acts of criminal damage, plus 14 shoplifting and theft reports, in the 12 months to August 2026. Each dot is one resident; each coloured dot is one recorded crime.
Lowest recorded crime in Warminster Broadway, Warminster West and Warminster North & Rural; highest in Warminster East
| Ward | Residents | Violent | Homes & vehicles | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warminster Broadway | 4,530 | 19.9 | 11.4 | |
| Warminster West | 4,693 | 22.4 | 9.2 | |
| Warminster North & Rural | 3,387 | 26.7 | 13.4 | |
| Warminster East | 5,263 | 36.9 | 18.4 |
| At or near | Reports | Mostly |
|---|---|---|
| Supermarkets | 343 | 59% shoplifting & theft |
| Car parks | 272 | 35% anti-social behaviour |
| Shopping areas | 150 | 50% shoplifting & theft |
| Nightclubs | 102 | 38% violent |
| Parks and open spaces | 68 | 49% shoplifting & theft |
| Petrol stations | 26 | 35% violent |
A ward’s rate counts crimes where they happened, not where victims live, so Warminster East records 1.6× the violent crime per resident of the rest of Warminster. police.uk places each crime at an anonymous map point; some are named for the kind of place (a supermarket, a car park), and each row adds up every place of that kind in Warminster. We show only these, never streets or homes.
Crimes per 1,000 residents a year by council ward (the part of each ward inside Warminster’s built-up area), September 2023 to August 2026. Beside it, the public places police.uk named most often.
How Warminster’s neighbourhoods rank in England
16% of residents live in the lowest-crime 30% of England’s neighbourhoods, and 17% 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.
Warminster’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.
Set against 292 towns its size, Warminster is 127th
| # | Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Shops & theft | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kesgrave Suffolk | 14,947 | 13 | 3.3 | 2.7 | A |
| … | ||||||
| 58 | Royal Wootton Bassett Wiltshire | 13,002 | 22.6 | 8.5 | 4 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 70 | Calne Wiltshire | 19,725 | 25.9 | 6.5 | 5.3 | B− |
| … | ||||||
| 103 | Westbury Wiltshire | 16,394 | 26.2 | 11 | 6.3 | C+ |
| … | ||||||
| 124 | Mansfield Woodhouse Nottinghamshire | 19,521 | 29.3 | 10.4 | 10.6 | C+ |
| 125 | Chesham Buckinghamshire | 23,691 | 26.2 | 13.5 | 11.2 | C+ |
| 126 | Stowmarket Suffolk | 21,537 | 31.7 | 8.1 | 10.9 | C+ |
| 127 | Warminster Wiltshire | 18,018 | 26.7 | 13.4 | 15.6 | C+ |
| 128 | Quedgeley and Hardwicke Gloucestershire | 21,125 | 32.8 | 7.4 | 7.4 | C+ |
| 129 | Brixham Devon | 17,839 | 30.1 | 10.1 | 7.2 | C+ |
| 130 | Armagh Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon | 16,310 | 27.6 | 12.7 | 13.4 | C |
| 131 | Melksham Wiltshire | 18,277 | 29.7 | 11.1 | 10.2 | C |
| … | ||||||
| 292 | Sheerness Kent | 13,253 | 87.2 | 32.8 | 27.3 | 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 Warminster, and others in Wiltshire.
No one died in a collision on Warminster’s roads in 2021–2025
Police recorded 75 collisions with injuries inside Warminster in five years. 18 people were killed or seriously injured: 6 on foot and 3 on a bicycle.
That is about what is typical for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people: at their median rate (0.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Warminster’s size would see about 1 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Warminster’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Counting serious injuries too, Warminster had 20.0 people killed or seriously injured per 100,000 residents a year, below the median for UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people (23.8).
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 Warminster’s built-up area, 2021–2025. Described here; not part of the Safety Grade.
Crime in the places around Warminster
| Town | People | Violent | Homes & vehicles | Safety |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warminster | 18,018 | 26.7 | 13.4 | C+ |
| Dilton Marsh | 1,958 | 18.7 | 5.8 | B+ |
| Westbury | 16,394 | 26.2 | 11 | C+ |
| Bratton | 1,172 | 16 | 10 | B+ |
| Frome | 27,904 | 39.8 | 12.8 | C− |
| Beckington | 1,001 | 19.7 | 8.7 | B |
| North Bradley | 1,555 | 10.1 | 6 | A |
| Southwick | 1,856 | 24.1 | 9.7 | B− |
Warminster records more graded crime per resident than 6 of its 7 neighbours; only Frome records more. Dilton Marsh, 3.3 miles away, records 18.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 residents a year (3-year average), against Warminster’s 26.7.
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 Warminster 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 Warminster
Is Warminster safe?
Police recorded 26.7 violent and sexual offences and 13.4 burglaries, vehicle crimes and acts of criminal damage per 1,000 residents a year over the three years to August 2026 (police.uk, inside Warminster’s built-up area). That earns a C+ for safety: less crime per resident than 35% of UK towns. Among 292 UK towns of 13,000 to 24,000 people, Warminster is 127th from the least crime.
What are the safest areas of Warminster?
By council ward, Warminster Broadway, Warminster West and Warminster North & Rural record the least violent and household crime per resident: 19.9, 22.4 and 26.7 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 a year (3-year average), against 36.9 in Warminster East.
Is crime going up in Warminster?
In the 12 months to August 2026, against the 12 months before, violent crime fell 10%, burglary, vehicle crime and damage fell 29%, shoplifting and theft fell 24% and anti-social behaviour fell 20%. Across UK towns of 10,000 to 50,000 people, violent crime held steady.
Is Warminster town centre safe at night?
police.uk placed 102 crimes and reports at or near nightclubs in three years, 38% of them violent, and Warminster East ward records 36.9 violent and sexual offences per 1,000 of its residents a year. Over the last two years, violent crime peaked in October and was lowest in February.
What is the most common crime in Warminster?
Violence & sexual offences: 441 in the 12 months to August 2026, which in police.uk includes harassment, stalking and assault without injury. Next came shoplifting (157) and criminal damage & arson (94), with 257 reports of anti-social behaviour.
How does Warminster compare with Trowbridge?
Trowbridge records 33.5 violent and sexual offences and 12 crimes against homes and vehicles per 1,000 residents a year, against Warminster’s 26.7 and 13.4, 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.