Crime and Safety in Lytchett Minster and Upton

Last updated: 07 Jun 2026

Page highlights:

Lytchett Minster and Upton is among the top 10 most dangerous small towns in Dorset, and is the 54th most dangerous overall out of Dorset's 250 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Lytchett Minster and Upton in 2026 is 33 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares favourably to Dorset's overall crime rate, coming in 31% lower than the Dorset rate of 48 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Lytchett Minster and Upton is the 199th safest small town, and the 4,334th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.

In March 2020, Lytchett Minster and Upton had the worst crime rate in Dorset for possession of weapons, with 1 crime reported and a crime rate of 0.11 per 1,000 daytime population. June 2017 was also a bad month for Lytchett Minster and Upton residents, when it was Dorset's most dangerous area for robbery, recording 1 crime at a rate of 0.12 per 1,000 daytime population. Lytchett Minster and Upton recorded 1 report of robbery during August 2017, making its crime rate of 0.12 once more the worst for robbery in Dorset that month.

The most common crimes in Lytchett Minster and Upton are violence and sexual offences, with 155 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 17. This is 8% lower than 2025's figure of 168 offences and a difference of 1.45 from 2025's crime rate of 18. Lytchett Minster and Upton's least common crime is theft from the person, with 0 offences recorded in 2026, a decrease of 0% from 2025's figure of 3 crimes.

Lytchett Minster and Upton 2026 Crime Scorecard

Top 10 Most Dangerous

Small Towns, Dorset

46% lower, regional crime rate

South West

54% lower, national crime rate

England, Wales & NI

Local Crime in Context

As of April 2026, the crime rate in Lytchett Minster and Upton is 46% lower than the South West and 54% lower than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.

Lytchett Minster and Upton Crime Rate Over Time

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Lytchett Minster and Upton
South West
England, Wales & NI

Lytchett Minster and Upton Crime Map

Incidents mapped in Lytchett Minster and Upton represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.

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Hover over a point to see a breakdown of crime types recorded at that location. You can also filter by individual crime types, or use a combinations of offences to visualise the data you need.

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See How Lytchett Minster and Upton Compares

You can compare Lytchett Minster and Upton's crime statistics against any other town, village, or city from across the country. Search for a location's name below to see how they stack up.

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Introduction to Lytchett Minster and Upton's crime statistics

 

This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Lytchett Minster and Upton up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Lytchett Minster and Upton's 235 postcodes using three area sizes for comparison:

  • Within a Five-Minute Walk
  • Within a Ten-Minute Walk
  • Within a Fifteen-Minute Walk

Individual crime risk scores and index figures are for the 12-month period ending April 2026 unless otherwise stated.

Overview map crime around Lytchett Minster and Upton

CrimeRate Insights

Looking into a specific address in Lytchett Minster and Upton? CrimeRate Insights reports convert raw numbers into practical insight for any location, from single addresses and postcodes, up to major towns and cities.

Crime rates don’t happen by themselves; they follow people and patterns. Where crowds gather - near pubs and late-night venues, around the station, by supermarkets and forecourts - incidents naturally concentrate.

That doesn’t mean an area is "bad"; it usually means footfall is higher.

Your report explores these factors in a calm, non-judgemental way, putting the numbers in context and helping you spot what’s typical for places like this.

Crime Risk Scores

Lytchett Minster and Upton • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

The typical five-minute walk within Lytchett Minster and Upton has a crime risk score of 402. This is based on analysis of 235 nearby areas within Lytchett Minster and Upton, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.

Five Mins
402 crime risk score
Ten Mins
458 crime risk score
Fifteen Mins
474 crime risk score

Crime risk scores are on a scale of 1 to 1,000 and consider the severity of the crimes involved, as determined by sentencing guidelines. A score of 1 represents the lowest risk, and 1,000 the highest risk. This approach ensures that - unlike overall crime rate figures - bicycle theft is not given the same importance in Lytchett Minster and Upton's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.

Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Lytchett Minster and Upton, crime risk scores are typically around 402, while in Dorset they are average 377.

Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 458 (392 for Dorset), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 474 (Dorset 390).

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Trends in Crime Risk

Lytchett Minster and Upton

 

Calculated via Seasonal and Trend decomposition using Loess, the Seasonality Adjusted line represents the original data with seasonality subtracted, and the Trend line has been plotted unadjusted. Overall trend direction has been identified using the Mann-Kendall trend test, and rate calculated from the slope of the best-fit line identified from linear regression.

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The 10-year trend indicates a decrease of 8% in Lytchett Minster and Upton's crime risk score. This is potentially a strong signal of how the crime risk is evolving. Cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.

The five-year trend may be static; no significant trend was identified in Lytchett Minster and Upton's crime risk scores during this timeframe.

Over the last year, Lytchett Minster and Upton's crime risk score has shown a downward trend of approximately 19%, indicating that the risk profile is going down. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.

Crime Rates and Indexes

Lytchett Minster and Upton

 

The CrimeRate Index shows how crime rates compare against the national average.

1.0 equals the average
2.0 is double
3.0 triple
0.5 is half and
0.25 a quarter.

Highest Crime Rates

Lytchett Minster and Upton • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

Excluding other crime and other theft because their geographic location is often not relevant, anti-social behaviour as its definition is too wide, and bicycle theft for its specificity.

Possession of Weapons
1.57 CrimeRate Index
Burglary
1.28 CrimeRate Index
Robbery
1.22 CrimeRate Index

Possession of Weapons offences have a crime rate of 0.44 reports per 1,000 people in Lytchett Minster and Upton, which is 1.57 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 4 crime reports logged by Dorset Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.

For the same period, Dorset Police recorded 24 reports of Burglary in Lytchett Minster and Upton, resulting in a crime rate of 2.64 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.28.

The crime rate for Robbery is 1.22 times the national average at 0.11 reports per 1,000. This is from 1 crime report reported to Dorset Police.

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Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types

Lytchett Minster and Upton

 

Excluding other crime and other theft, anti-social behaviour, and bicycle theft, and calculated with the same STL method described in Trends in Crime Risk, using CrimeRate Index figures to identify crime types that are trending above or below the national average, and the analysis timeframe limited to the last three years.

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Drugs offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of - for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Drugs CrimeRate Index was 0.52 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a near-complete decrease over this timeframe.

Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types

Lytchett Minster and Upton

 

Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.

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Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.20 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.89 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 78% over this timeframe.

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Violence and Sexual Offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.41 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 0.89 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 54% over this timeframe.

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Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.33 for the month of April 2026.

Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 0.22 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 50% over this timeframe.

Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map

Lytchett Minster and Upton • 12 Months Ending April 2026

 

Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.

 
Lytchett Minster and Upton
Dorset
South West
Crime TypeCountRateIndexCountRateIndexCountRateIndex
Anti-Social Behaviour879.570.6814,09516.231.1582,03012.620.89
Bicycle Theft20.221.695510.630.863,7020.540.74
Burglary242.641.282,0322.340.7515,7502.420.77
Criminal Damage and Arson252.750.523,9934.600.7336,4595.640.90
Drugs30.330.411,1271.300.4210,3581.600.52
Other Crime40.440.965310.610.338,9311.380.75
Other Theft293.190.613,5084.040.7131,4504.850.85
Possession of Weapons40.441.573310.380.453,9670.620.73
Public Order111.210.332,6723.080.5336,6695.630.97
Robbery10.111.224030.460.394,5670.700.59
Shoplifting50.550.224,5765.280.7437,3655.760.81
Theft From the Person---2550.310.202,0430.330.21
Vehicle Crime353.850.972,8373.260.7616,6662.560.60
Violence and Sexual Offences15517.050.5618,68021.480.71189,25729.130.96
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Total Crime by Year

 
Lytchett Minster and Upton
Dorset
South West
YearCountRateIndexCountRateIndexCountRateIndex
202629832.780.6041,49647.770.66397,18461.160.85
202539543.660.6946,12453.540.72402,19262.400.84
202438643.000.6946,61854.500.72357,42055.920.74
202341746.670.6947,12255.370.70360,08656.890.72
202232836.760.5748,75957.790.75351,95856.190.73
202131135.240.6745,88654.680.80311,59250.210.73
202038744.100.6749,69059.430.80343,34255.680.75
201938044.050.7052,05262.330.82348,57456.870.75
201836042.490.7246,77856.190.79340,40855.870.79
201728634.180.6442,34851.170.80312,78451.720.81
201610512.570.7913,09615.850.8392,22915.290.80
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Lytchett Minster and Upton Compared to Nearby Small Towns

12 Months Ending Apr 2026

 

Small TownTotal CrimesCrime RateRate Difference
Bridport53258.6579% more dangerous
Portland72750.7755% more dangerous
Shaftesbury50150.2353% more dangerous
Dorchester1,21845.2838% more dangerous
Sherborne44537.0013% more dangerous
Blandford Forum43639.0619% more dangerous
Lytchett Minster and Upton29832.78-
Swanage31132.900.37% more dangerous
Ferndown Town62630.906% safer
Gillingham38329.2611% safer
Verwood42426.7618% safer
Corfe Mullen25323.5328% safer
West Moors16121.5134% safer

Comparing Lytchett Minster and Upton to the UK's Major Cities

12 Months Ending Apr 2026

 

City NameCrime RateRate Difference
Lytchett Minster and Upton32.78-
Cardiff79.55143% more dangerous
Newcastle upon Tyne82.69152% more dangerous
Sheffield84.09157% more dangerous
Leicester97.87199% more dangerous
Bristol104.64219% more dangerous
Birmingham105.05220% more dangerous
Liverpool106.48225% more dangerous
Leeds107.10227% more dangerous
Nottingham107.74229% more dangerous
Westminster125.00281% more dangerous

Offences In and Around Lytchett Minster and Upton's Parks & Leisure Spaces

 

Limited to spaces in Lytchett Minster and Upton that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Apr 2026.

NameASBDrugsPublic OrderRobberyVSOAll Others
Warbler Park Skatepark----137
Meadow Garden2---55
Harbour View-----2
Upton Country Park7-1-117

Recent Crimes in Lytchett Minster and Upton

The 20 most recent crime reports in Lytchett Minster and Upton.

 

DateCrime TypeLocationOutcome
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Ropers Lane
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Martingale Close
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Holcombe Road
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Palmerston Close
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Palmerston Close
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Palmerston Close
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Upton Court
April 2026Anti-social behaviourOn or near Pine View Close
April 2026Criminal damage and arsonOn or near Parking Area
April 2026Other theftOn or near Kestrel Close
April 2026Other theftOn or near Beacon Park Crescent
April 2026Other theftOn or near Martingale Close
April 2026Public orderOn or near Parking Area
April 2026ShopliftingOn or near St David'S Road
April 2026Vehicle crimeOn or near Randalls Hill
April 2026Vehicle crimeOn or near Osprey Close
April 2026Violence and sexual offencesOn or near Stirrup Close
April 2026Violence and sexual offencesOn or near Preston Close
April 2026Violence and sexual offencesOn or near Kestrel Close
April 2026Violence and sexual offencesOn or near Kestrel Close

Methodology & Data Sources

Lytchett Minster and Upton Crime Report

 

Data Sources & Processing

Every month, CrimeRate processes crime reports from data.police.uk, the UK's official provider of open crime report data. Each crime report includes anonymised coordinates, most often "snapped" to the middle of the nearest street, or to the nearest major landmark. The reports also include the month and year the crime was reported, as well as the type of crime.

Data releases on data.police.uk happen once a month, with a two-month delay. This means that, for example, crimes reported in Lytchett Minster and Upton during June 2026 will typically become available in August 2026. The latest release is for Apr 2026 and was released in Jun 2026. To provide current and historical crime statistics, CrimeRate processed 61,669,232 crime reports for the latest release.

Lytchett Minster and Upton Data Points

For Lytchett Minster and Upton, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2023 release of their Parishes and Non Civil Parished Areas dataset, using the PARNCP23CD column value E04003478.

Due to the 2021 Census being conducted during a UK-wide Coronavirus lockdown, the daytime population figures released so far cannot be relied on for purposes such as comparing crime rates. Instead, CrimeRate uses Lytchett Minster and Upton's daytime - or "workday" - population of 5,726 from the ONS 2011 Census for calculations throughout the site.

All geographic boundaries use the full resolution - extent of the realm versions where provided to avoid missing crime reports near coastlines and rivers - the banks of the Thames in particular - that would otherwise not be included when using the clipped to the coastline datasets.

Lytchett Minster and Upton geographic boundaries light outline
CrimeRate's boundaries for Lytchett Minster and Upton

Calculating Crime Rates

CrimeRate locates the UK region, county, and town/city/village locality for each crime report, and calculates the crime rate by taking the sum of all crime reports, dividing it by the locality's daytime / "workday" population, and multiplying the result by 1,000 to get the crime rate per 1,000.

Crime Risk Score Calculations

CrimeRate calculates crime counts for local, nearby, and wider areas for every postcode in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. The postcodes locations are deduplicated by a process that ensures distinct points are approximately 50 metres apart. This process removes the bias that would otherwise come from counting the same crimes several times in heavily populated areas.

Using a custom algorithm developed in-house, CrimeRate applies a crime severity weighting to each area's crime counts, based on the type of crime reported. This increases or decreases the crime count, or zeroes it out entirely, depending on the crime type. A separate crime severity rate is then calculated, standardised, and scaled to fit the crime risk score range of 1 to 1,000, with 1 being the lowest score, and 1,000 the highest.

Crime risk scores undergo further analysis per town, city, and village plus other areas including police forces and neighbourhoods. CrimeRate uses percentiles to work out the most common range of crime risk scores in each locality. This includes identifying the high and low bounds where approximately 68% of scores fall, and finding the median (50th percentile) for easy reference.

The crime types with a weight of zero are: Anti-Social Behaviour; Bicycle Theft; Other Crime; Other Theft; and Shoplifting. The highest weights to are assigned to Violence & Sexual Offences, and the lowest to Vehicle Crime.

Frequently Asked Questions

Crime in Lytchett Minster and Upton

 

What police force serves Lytchett Minster and Upton?
Lytchett Minster and Upton's local territorial police force is the Dorset Police.

How dangerous is Lytchett Minster and Upton?
Lytchett Minster and Upton is among the top 10 most dangerous small towns in Dorset.

What is Lytchett Minster and Upton's most common crime?
The most common crimes in Lytchett Minster and Upton are violence and sexual offences.

What is the least common crime in Lytchett Minster and Upton?
Lytchett Minster and Upton's least common crime is theft from the person (inc. pickpocketing).