Crime and Safety in Oswaldtwistle, Lancashire
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Oswaldtwistle is the second most dangerous small town in Lancashire, and is among the top 10 most dangerous overall out of Lancashire's 236 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Oswaldtwistle in 2026 is 89 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Lancashire's overall crime rate, coming in 23% higher than the Lancashire rate of 72 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Oswaldtwistle is the 37th most dangerous small town, and the 381st most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In June 2019, Oswaldtwistle had the worst crime rate in Lancashire for possession of weapons, with 2 crimes reported and a crime rate of 0.18 per 1,000 daytime population. And in January 2026, Oswaldtwistle was the worst small town in Lancashire for vehicle crime, with 14 crimes reported and a crime rate of 1.2 per 1,000 daytime population. February 2026 was also a bad month for Oswaldtwistle residents, when it was again Lancashire's most dangerous small town for vehicle crime, recording 12 crimes at a rate of 1.0 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Oswaldtwistle are violence and sexual offences, with 535 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 46. This is 4.3% higher than 2025's figure of 513 offences and a difference of 1.88 from 2025's crime rate of 44. Oswaldtwistle's least common crime is bicycle theft, with 2 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 100% from 2025's figure of 1 crime.
Oswaldtwistle 2026 Crime Scorecard
Second Most Dangerous
Small Towns, Lancashire
105% higher, regional crime rate
North West
23% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Oswaldtwistle is 105% higher than the North West and 23% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Oswaldtwistle Crime Rate Over Time
| Oswaldtwistle | |
| North West | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Oswaldtwistle Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Oswaldtwistle 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 Oswaldtwistle Compares
You can compare Oswaldtwistle'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 Oswaldtwistle's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Oswaldtwistle up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Oswaldtwistle's 265 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 Oswaldtwistle? 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
Oswaldtwistle • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Oswaldtwistle has a crime risk score of 636. This is based on analysis of 265 nearby areas within Oswaldtwistle, 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 Oswaldtwistle's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Oswaldtwistle, crime risk scores are typically around 636, while in Lancashire they are average 494.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 680 (504 for Lancashire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 782 (Lancashire 511).
Trends in Crime Risk
Oswaldtwistle
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.
The 10-year trend indicates an increase of 32% in Oswaldtwistle'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.
Looking at the previous five years, the trend in Oswaldtwistle's crime risk score is up by 22%. While potentially a good indicator of the overall risk trend, analysis may offer further insight when combined with the checks mentioned above.
Over the last year, Oswaldtwistle's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 10%, 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
Oswaldtwistle
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
Oswaldtwistle • 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 0.87 reports per 1,000 people in Oswaldtwistle, which is 2.12 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 10 crime reports logged by Lancashire Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, Lancashire Police recorded 96 reports of Vehicle Crime in Oswaldtwistle, resulting in a crime rate of 8.18 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.90.
The crime rate for Burglary is 1.86 times the national average at 5.82 reports per 1,000. This is from 68 crime reports reported to Lancashire Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Oswaldtwistle
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.
Drugs offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Robbery offences are trending upwards, though the CrimeRate Index three years ago is too low to measure, and the trend should be reviewed with caution.
Violence and Sexual Offences are trending upwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 1.64 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Violence and Sexual Offences CrimeRate Index was 1.32 times the national average, and the current trend indicates an increase of 24% over this timeframe.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Oswaldtwistle
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
No significant decreases identified.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Oswaldtwistle • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Oswaldtwistle | Lancashire | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 391 | 33.30 | 2.36 | 44,091 | 25.12 | 1.78 | 68,604 | 7.93 | 0.56 |
| Bicycle Theft | 2 | 0.17 | 4.25 | 935 | 0.54 | 0.74 | 2,963 | 0.35 | 0.48 |
| Burglary | 68 | 5.82 | 1.86 | 5,672 | 3.22 | 1.03 | 13,151 | 1.50 | 0.48 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 92 | 7.85 | 1.25 | 12,487 | 7.11 | 1.13 | 34,232 | 3.94 | 0.63 |
| Drugs | 19 | 1.64 | 0.64 | 4,150 | 2.37 | 0.77 | 23,463 | 2.70 | 0.87 |
| Other Crime | 25 | 2.15 | 1.40 | 4,141 | 2.36 | 1.28 | 11,008 | 1.28 | 0.69 |
| Other Theft | 52 | 4.46 | 0.78 | 9,088 | 5.17 | 0.91 | 24,256 | 2.79 | 0.49 |
| Possession of Weapons | 10 | 0.87 | 2.12 | 1,753 | 1.01 | 1.19 | 4,543 | 0.53 | 0.62 |
| Public Order | 57 | 4.87 | 0.84 | 8,532 | 4.86 | 0.84 | 36,702 | 4.23 | 0.73 |
| Robbery | 7 | 0.63 | 0.91 | 1,207 | 0.69 | 0.58 | 3,301 | 0.38 | 0.32 |
| Shoplifting | 72 | 6.16 | 0.86 | 9,243 | 5.26 | 0.74 | 27,614 | 3.18 | 0.45 |
| Theft From the Person | 4 | 0.36 | 0.69 | 663 | 0.38 | 0.25 | 1,948 | 0.23 | 0.15 |
| Vehicle Crime | 96 | 8.18 | 1.90 | 6,294 | 3.57 | 0.83 | 14,353 | 1.67 | 0.39 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 535 | 45.59 | 1.50 | 62,045 | 35.33 | 1.16 | 178,380 | 20.58 | 0.68 |
Download | |||||||||
Total Crime by Year
Oswaldtwistle | Lancashire | North West | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 1,039 | 88.75 | 1.30 | 126,210 | 71.87 | 1.00 | 375,914 | 43.36 | 0.60 |
| 2025 | 1,009 | 86.66 | 1.26 | 125,027 | 71.71 | 0.97 | 373,106 | 43.34 | 0.59 |
| 2024 | 900 | 77.87 | 1.10 | 125,021 | 72.60 | 0.96 | 380,165 | 44.52 | 0.59 |
| 2023 | 974 | 85.14 | 1.15 | 126,579 | 74.37 | 0.94 | 418,544 | 49.63 | 0.63 |
| 2022 | 806 | 71.13 | 0.99 | 128,887 | 76.97 | 1.00 | 410,255 | 49.27 | 0.64 |
| 2021 | 755 | 67.50 | 1.07 | 122,462 | 73.89 | 1.08 | 363,499 | 44.00 | 0.64 |
| 2020 | 844 | 75.55 | 1.10 | 132,867 | 80.49 | 1.09 | 388,434 | 47.29 | 0.64 |
| 2019 | 957 | 85.40 | 1.20 | 159,649 | 97.36 | 1.28 | 412,412 | 50.39 | 0.66 |
| 2018 | 794 | 71.08 | 1.11 | 125,020 | 76.64 | 1.08 | 361,592 | 44.45 | 0.63 |
| 2017 | 670 | 59.59 | 1.02 | 103,791 | 64.02 | 1.00 | 303,042 | 37.41 | 0.59 |
| 2016 | 171 | 15.15 | 0.90 | 30,635 | 18.97 | 0.99 | 87,310 | 10.80 | 0.57 |
Download | |||||||||
Oswaldtwistle Compared to Nearby Small Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Small Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Padiham | 1,079 | 93.50 | 5% more dangerous |
| Oswaldtwistle | 1,039 | 88.75 | - |
| Colne | 1,910 | 90.54 | 2.0% more dangerous |
| Great Harwood | 869 | 78.17 | 12% safer |
| Clayton-le-Moors | 649 | 69.84 | 21% safer |
| Brierfield | 768 | 66.29 | 25% safer |
| Rawtenstall | 1,710 | 69.86 | 21% safer |
| Heysham | 1,114 | 65.63 | 26% safer |
| Kirkham | 508 | 54.82 | 38% safer |
| Poulton-le-Fylde | 844 | 60.25 | 32% safer |
| Clayton-le-Woods | 1,008 | 59.90 | 33% safer |
| Whitworth | 457 | 54.23 | 39% safer |
| Cleveleys | 600 | 54.12 | 39% safer |
| Haslingden | 945 | 56.12 | 37% safer |
| Burscough | 580 | 52.19 | 41% safer |
Comparing Oswaldtwistle to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 10% safer |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 7% safer |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 5% safer |
| Oswaldtwistle | 88.75 | - |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 10% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 18% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 18% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 20% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 21% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 21% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 41% more dangerous |
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 Oswaldtwistle's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Oswaldtwistle 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jubilee Gardens | 4 | - | 1 | - | 7 | 9 |
| James Hargreaves Memorial Garden | 7 | - | - | - | 2 | 0 |
| Rhyddings Park | 19 | - | 1 | - | 22 | 10 |
Recent Crimes in Oswaldtwistle
The 20 most recent crime reports in Oswaldtwistle.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Kay Street | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Buttermere Drive | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Tinker Brook Close | |
| April 2026 | Anti-social behaviour | On or near Heys | |
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Buttermere Drive | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near James Street | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near B6231 | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Petrol Station | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Heys | |
| April 2026 | Possession of weapons | On or near Buttermere Drive | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Mill Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Chapel Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Buttermere Drive | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Bright Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Victoria Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Heys Lane | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near James Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near James Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near James Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Buttermere Drive |
Methodology & Data Sources
Oswaldtwistle 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 Oswaldtwistle 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.
Oswaldtwistle Data Points
For Oswaldtwistle, CrimeRate uses the geographic boundaries provided by The Office for National Statistics in the December 2022 release of their Built Up Areas dataset, using the BUA22CD column value E63000878.
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 Oswaldtwistle's daytime - or "workday" - population of 7,105 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 Oswaldtwistle