Crime and Safety in Blackpool
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Blackpool is the most dangerous major town in Lancashire, and is among the top 5 most dangerous overall out of Lancashire's 236 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Blackpool in 2026 is 129 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Lancashire's overall crime rate, coming in 80% higher than the Lancashire rate of 72 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Blackpool is among the top 5 most dangerous major towns, and the 236th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In July 2025, Blackpool had the worst crime rate in Lancashire for theft from the person, with 23 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.14 per 1,000 daytime population. May 2023 was also a bad month for Blackpool residents, when it was again Lancashire's most dangerous area for theft from the person, recording 18 crimes at a rate of 0.11 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Blackpool are violence and sexual offences, with 10,974 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 68. This is 0.20% lower than 2025's figure of 10,996 offences and a difference of 0.38 from 2025's crime rate of 69. Blackpool's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 138 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 1.5% from 2025's figure of 136 crimes.
Blackpool 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Major Towns, Lancashire
198% higher, regional crime rate
North West
80% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Blackpool is 198% higher than the North West and 80% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Blackpool Crime Rate Over Time
| Blackpool | |
| North West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Blackpool Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Blackpool represent the time frame between January 2016 and April 2026. Each point on the map represents an area where crimes have been recorded locally.
Use Crime Map
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.
See How Blackpool Compares
You can compare Blackpool'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.
Introduction to Blackpool's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Blackpool up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Blackpool's 3,527 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.
CrimeRate Insights
Looking into a specific address in Blackpool? 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
Blackpool • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Blackpool has a crime risk score of 677. This is based on analysis of 3,527 nearby areas within Blackpool, with "most" referring to roughly two thirds of the nearby locations.
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 Blackpool's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Blackpool, crime risk scores are typically around 677, while in Lancashire they are average 494.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 753 (504 for Lancashire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 790 (Lancashire 511).
Trends in Crime Risk
Blackpool
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.
No trend could be found in Blackpool's crime risk scores over the last 10 years, and the trend may well be static.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Blackpool's crime risk score is up by 6%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, cross-referencing with major cultural events and Covid's impact during this time is advised.
Over the last year, Blackpool's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 3.4%, indicating that the risk profile is going up. This is an extremely short time period for crime trend analysis, and caution should be exercised when interpreting this figure.
Crime Rates and Indexes
Blackpool
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
Blackpool • 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 offences have a crime rate of 2.03 reports per 1,000 people in Blackpool, which is 2.39 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 325 crime reports logged by Lancashire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Lancashire Police recorded 10,974 reports of Violence and Sexual Offences in Blackpool, resulting in a crime rate of 68 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 2.25.
The crime rate for Criminal Damage and Arson is 1.78 times the national average at 11 reports per 1,000. This is from 1,795 crime reports reported to Lancashire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Blackpool
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.
Public Order offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.88 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Public Order CrimeRate Index was 1.11 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 69% over this timeframe.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 2.30 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 2.06 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 12% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Blackpool
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Shoplifting offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.73 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Shoplifting CrimeRate Index was 1.76 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 59% over this timeframe.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.83 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 2.17 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 16% over this timeframe.
Vehicle Crime offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.54 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Vehicle Crime CrimeRate Index was 1.52 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 1.3% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Blackpool • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Blackpool | Lancashire | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 6,945 | 43.30 | 3.06 | 44,091 | 25.12 | 1.78 | 68,604 | 7.93 | 0.56 |
| Bicycle Theft | 138 | 0.87 | 1.19 | 935 | 0.54 | 0.74 | 2,963 | 0.35 | 0.48 |
| Burglary | 706 | 4.40 | 1.41 | 5,672 | 3.22 | 1.03 | 13,151 | 1.50 | 0.48 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 1,795 | 11.19 | 1.78 | 12,487 | 7.11 | 1.13 | 34,232 | 3.94 | 0.63 |
| Drugs | 728 | 4.54 | 1.47 | 4,150 | 2.37 | 0.77 | 23,463 | 2.70 | 0.87 |
| Other Crime | 608 | 3.79 | 2.05 | 4,141 | 2.36 | 1.28 | 11,008 | 1.28 | 0.69 |
| Other Theft | 1,545 | 9.61 | 1.69 | 9,088 | 5.17 | 0.91 | 24,256 | 2.79 | 0.49 |
| Possession of Weapons | 325 | 2.03 | 2.39 | 1,753 | 1.01 | 1.19 | 4,543 | 0.53 | 0.62 |
| Public Order | 1,527 | 9.53 | 1.64 | 8,532 | 4.86 | 0.84 | 36,702 | 4.23 | 0.73 |
| Robbery | 226 | 1.44 | 1.22 | 1,207 | 0.69 | 0.58 | 3,301 | 0.38 | 0.32 |
| Shoplifting | 1,208 | 7.51 | 1.05 | 9,243 | 5.26 | 0.74 | 27,614 | 3.18 | 0.45 |
| Theft From the Person | 185 | 1.15 | 0.74 | 663 | 0.38 | 0.25 | 1,948 | 0.23 | 0.15 |
| Vehicle Crime | 790 | 4.93 | 1.15 | 6,294 | 3.57 | 0.83 | 14,353 | 1.67 | 0.39 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 10,974 | 68.36 | 2.25 | 62,045 | 35.33 | 1.16 | 178,380 | 20.58 | 0.68 |
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Total Crime by Year
Blackpool | Lancashire | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 20,755 | 129.35 | 1.80 | 126,210 | 71.87 | 1.00 | 375,914 | 43.36 | 0.60 |
| 2025 | 21,605 | 135.59 | 1.83 | 125,027 | 71.71 | 0.97 | 373,106 | 43.34 | 0.59 |
| 2024 | 21,884 | 138.67 | 1.84 | 125,021 | 72.60 | 0.96 | 380,165 | 44.52 | 0.59 |
| 2023 | 22,404 | 143.34 | 1.81 | 126,579 | 74.37 | 0.94 | 418,544 | 49.63 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 22,145 | 142.55 | 1.86 | 128,887 | 76.97 | 1.00 | 410,255 | 49.27 | 0.64 |
| 2021 | 20,294 | 130.24 | 1.90 | 122,462 | 73.89 | 1.08 | 363,499 | 44.00 | 0.64 |
| 2020 | 22,673 | 144.15 | 1.94 | 132,867 | 80.49 | 1.09 | 388,434 | 47.29 | 0.64 |
| 2019 | 28,074 | 178.91 | 2.35 | 159,649 | 97.36 | 1.28 | 412,412 | 50.39 | 0.66 |
| 2018 | 21,476 | 136.95 | 1.93 | 125,020 | 76.64 | 1.08 | 361,592 | 44.45 | 0.63 |
| 2017 | 17,956 | 113.71 | 1.78 | 103,791 | 64.02 | 1.00 | 303,042 | 37.41 | 0.59 |
| 2016 | 5,025 | 31.68 | 1.66 | 30,635 | 18.97 | 0.99 | 87,310 | 10.80 | 0.57 |
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Blackpool Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blackpool | 20,755 | 129.35 | - |
| Burnley | 8,898 | 111.85 | 14% safer |
| Preston | 14,005 | 91.08 | 30% safer |
| Blackburn | 11,062 | 76.21 | 41% safer |
| Bamber Bridge | 2,817 | 64.59 | 50% safer |
| Lancaster | 789 | 58.09 | 55% safer |
Comparing Blackpool to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 39% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 36% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 35% safer |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 24% safer |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 19% safer |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 19% safer |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 18% safer |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 17% safer |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 17% safer |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 3.4% safer |
| Blackpool | 129.35 | - |
CrimeRate Pro
To download charts and tables, you must subscribed to CrimeRate Pro
You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Blackpool's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Blackpool that are named and have had crimes recorded within their boundaries in the 12 months to Apr 2026.
| Name | ASB | Drugs | Public Order | Robbery | VSO | All Others |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solaris Centre Park | 27 | - | - | - | 17 | 13 |
| George Bancroft Park | 31 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 29 | 26 |
| Eastpines Park | 6 | - | 1 | - | 1 | 3 |
| Warbreck Recreation Ground | 21 | 4 | 11 | - | 30 | 25 |
| Moor Park | 25 | 1 | 6 | - | 20 | 10 |
| Rock Garden | 4 | 1 | 1 | - | 7 | 5 |
| Claremont Park | 28 | 2 | 6 | 1 | 56 | 18 |
| Layton Cemetery | 42 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 22 | 33 |
| Grange Park | 11 | 1 | - | - | 21 | 9 |
| The Louie Horrocks Playing Fields | - | - | - | - | 1 | 0 |
| Kingscote Park | 20 | - | 1 | - | 18 | 17 |
| Stanley Park | 85 | 2 | 10 | 4 | 54 | 38 |
| St Paul's Burial Ground | 1 | 1 | 2 | - | 1 | 5 |
| Norbreck Bowling and Tennis Club | - | - | 1 | - | 6 | 8 |
| Boundary Park | 42 | 4 | 11 | - | 72 | 41 |
| Sandcastle | 18 | 1 | 8 | - | 29 | 19 |
| South Shore Bowling Club | 20 | 1 | 3 | - | 26 | 13 |
| Layton Allotments | 2 | 3 | 1 | - | 22 | 11 |
| Derek Slack Allotments | - | - | - | - | - | 2 |
| Lawsons Road Allotments | 1 | - | - | - | 5 | 2 |
| Highfield Ladies Bowling Club | 17 | 2 | - | - | 19 | 12 |
| Fishers Field | 10 | - | 3 | - | 12 | 3 |
| Acregate Allotment Gardens | 5 | 1 | 2 | - | 12 | 4 |
| Bridge Farm Allotments | 4 | - | - | 1 | 10 | 5 |
| Cherry Tree Allotments | 2 | - | - | - | - | 3 |
| Mereside Park | 88 | - | 7 | - | 41 | 20 |
| Carleton Cemetery and Crematorium | 5 | - | 4 | - | 2 | 2 |
| Fylde Memorial Arboretum and Community Woodland | 5 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 1 |
| Anchorsholme Park | 42 | - | 4 | 1 | 19 | 8 |
| Harold Larwood Park | 13 | 1 | 6 | - | 24 | 16 |
Recent Crimes in Blackpool
The 20 most recent crime reports in Blackpool.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Edgeway Road | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Police Station | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Church Street | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Police Station | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near A584 | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near A584 | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Tyldesley Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Tyldesley Road | |
| April 2026 | Public order | On or near Dumfries Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Whinpark Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Frazer Grove | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Adstone Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Abbeyville | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Whinpark Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Lawrence Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Whinpark Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Whinpark Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Dumfries Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Shopping Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Norfolk Road |
Methodology & Data Sources
Blackpool 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 Blackpool during August 2026 will typically become available in October 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.
Blackpool Data Points
For Blackpool, 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 E43000009.
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 Blackpool's daytime - or "workday" - population of 143,730 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.
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 Blackpool