Crime and Safety in Telford
Last updated: 07 Jun 2026
Telford is the most dangerous major town in Shropshire, and is among the top 20 most dangerous overall out of Shropshire's 215 towns, villages, and cities. The overall crime rate in Telford in 2026 is 73 crimes per 1,000 people. This compares poorly to Shropshire's overall crime rate, coming in 31% higher than the Shropshire rate of 55 per 1,000 daytime population. For England, Wales, and Northern Ireland as a whole, Telford is the 31st safest major town, and the 1,596th most dangerous location out of all towns, cities, and villages.
In January 2026, Telford was the worst major town in Shropshire for anti-social behaviour, with 163 crimes reported and a crime rate of 1.0 per 1,000 daytime population. January 2026 was also a bad month for Telford residents, when it was Shropshire's most dangerous major town for burglary, recording 20 crimes at a rate of 0.13 per 1,000 daytime population.
The most common crimes in Telford are violence and sexual offences, with 5,403 offences during 2026, giving a crime rate of 35. This is 0.92% lower than 2025's figure of 5,453 offences and a difference of 0.34 from 2025's crime rate of 35. Telford's least common crime is theft from the person, with 43 offences recorded in 2026, an increase of 43% from 2025's figure of 30 crimes.
Telford 2026 Crime Scorecard
Most Dangerous
Major Towns, Shropshire
4.0% lower, regional crime rate
West Midlands
0.79% higher, national crime rate
England, Wales & NI
Local Crime in Context
As of April 2026, the crime rate in Telford is 4.0% lower than the West Midlands and 0.79% higher than the England, Wales & Northern Ireland overall figure.
Telford Crime Rate Over Time
| Telford | |
| West Midlands | |
| England, Wales & NI |
Telford Crime Map
Incidents mapped in Telford 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 Telford Compares
You can compare Telford'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 Telford's crime statistics
This crime profile provides a detailed view of crime and safety around Telford up to April 2026, the most recent data release available. The crime figures and statistics have been calculated across each of Telford's 3,991 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 Telford? 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
Telford • 12 Months Ending April 2026
The typical five-minute walk within Telford has a crime risk score of 572. This is based on analysis of 3,991 nearby areas within Telford, 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 Telford's risk scores as, for example, robbery, or violence & sexual offences.
Within a five-minute walk of the typical location in Telford, crime risk scores are typically around 572, while in Shropshire they are average 559.
Areas within a ten-minute walk typically see crime risk scores of 663 (556 for Shropshire), and scores within a fifteen-minute walk are most often around 723 (Shropshire 546).
Trends in Crime Risk
Telford
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 a decrease of 16% in Telford'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 Telford's crime risk score is down by 0.77%. 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, Telford's crime risk score has shown an upward trend of approximately 3.0%, 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
Telford
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
Telford • 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.
Shoplifting offences have a crime rate of 9.83 reports per 1,000 people in Telford, which is 1.38 times the national average. This figure is calculated from 1,531 crime reports logged by West Mercia Police during the 12-month period ending April 2026.
For the same period, West Mercia Police recorded 175 reports of Possession of Weapons in Telford, resulting in a crime rate of 1.11 reports per 1,000, and a CrimeRate Index of 1.31.
The crime rate for Violence and Sexual Offences is 1.14 times the national average at 35 reports per 1,000. This is from 5,403 crime reports reported to West Mercia Police.
Most Significant 3-Year Increases in Crime Types
Telford
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.
No significant increases identified.
Most Significant 3-Year Decreases in Crime Types
Telford
Calculated with the same methodology as the largest increases section above.
Criminal Damage and Arson offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.96 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Criminal Damage and Arson CrimeRate Index was 0.94 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 2.1% over this timeframe.
Possession of Weapons offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.86 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Possession of Weapons CrimeRate Index was 2.29 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 62% over this timeframe.
Burglary offences are trending downwards, and have a CrimeRate Index of 0.75 for the month of April 2026.
Three years ago, the monthly Burglary CrimeRate Index was 0.73 times the national average, and the current trend indicates a decrease of 2.7% over this timeframe.
Crime Type Breakdown & Heat Map
Telford • 12 Months Ending April 2026
Size and colour reflect the CrimeRate Index figures for each type of crime.
Telford | Shropshire | West Midlands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime Type | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| Anti-Social Behaviour | 1,944 | 12.50 | 0.97 | 5,722 | 9.99 | 0.71 | 59,827 | 8.79 | 0.62 |
| Bicycle Theft | 90 | 0.59 | 0.81 | 274 | 0.48 | 0.66 | 3,572 | 0.53 | 0.73 |
| Burglary | 320 | 2.05 | 0.65 | 1,274 | 2.22 | 0.71 | 24,188 | 3.54 | 1.13 |
| Criminal Damage and Arson | 848 | 5.44 | 0.87 | 2,819 | 4.94 | 0.79 | 43,744 | 6.42 | 1.02 |
| Drugs | 450 | 2.88 | 0.93 | 1,123 | 1.97 | 0.64 | 16,314 | 2.38 | 0.77 |
| Other Crime | 331 | 2.12 | 1.15 | 946 | 1.66 | 0.90 | 12,162 | 1.79 | 0.97 |
| Other Theft | 723 | 4.65 | 0.82 | 2,258 | 3.95 | 0.69 | 34,029 | 5.00 | 0.88 |
| Possession of Weapons | 175 | 1.11 | 1.31 | 428 | 0.75 | 0.88 | 9,710 | 1.44 | 1.69 |
| Public Order | 901 | 5.79 | 1.00 | 2,345 | 4.09 | 0.71 | 36,155 | 5.32 | 0.92 |
| Robbery | 145 | 0.92 | 0.78 | 302 | 0.53 | 0.45 | 9,171 | 1.35 | 1.14 |
| Shoplifting | 1,531 | 9.83 | 1.38 | 3,081 | 5.40 | 0.76 | 51,348 | 7.55 | 1.06 |
| Theft From the Person | 43 | 0.29 | 0.20 | 112 | 0.20 | 0.13 | 3,487 | 0.49 | 0.32 |
| Vehicle Crime | 342 | 2.19 | 0.51 | 950 | 1.67 | 0.39 | 38,628 | 5.68 | 1.32 |
| Violence and Sexual Offences | 5,403 | 34.69 | 1.14 | 15,780 | 27.58 | 0.91 | 231,901 | 34.05 | 1.12 |
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Total Crime by Year
Telford | Shropshire | West Midlands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index | Count | Rate | Index |
| 2026 | 11,302 | 72.55 | 1.01 | 31,692 | 55.44 | 0.77 | 514,409 | 75.54 | 1.05 |
| 2025 | 11,002 | 71.07 | 0.96 | 31,757 | 55.86 | 0.75 | 516,162 | 76.32 | 1.03 |
| 2024 | 11,892 | 77.93 | 1.03 | 34,312 | 60.90 | 0.81 | 539,253 | 80.45 | 1.07 |
| 2023 | 12,989 | 86.51 | 1.09 | 36,711 | 65.97 | 0.83 | 598,904 | 90.62 | 1.15 |
| 2022 | 12,402 | 83.65 | 1.09 | 34,685 | 63.11 | 0.82 | 564,120 | 86.38 | 1.12 |
| 2021 | 9,831 | 67.14 | 0.98 | 28,627 | 52.82 | 0.77 | 463,870 | 71.46 | 1.04 |
| 2020 | 11,354 | 78.28 | 1.06 | 32,796 | 61.19 | 0.83 | 450,576 | 69.72 | 0.94 |
| 2019 | 11,475 | 79.38 | 1.04 | 32,913 | 61.83 | 0.81 | 460,715 | 71.52 | 0.94 |
| 2018 | 11,041 | 76.93 | 1.08 | 31,344 | 59.34 | 0.83 | 430,050 | 67.10 | 0.94 |
| 2017 | 10,585 | 74.38 | 1.16 | 29,700 | 56.84 | 0.89 | 395,755 | 62.08 | 0.97 |
| 2016 | 3,042 | 21.45 | 1.12 | 8,920 | 17.12 | 0.90 | 117,881 | 18.57 | 0.97 |
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Telford Compared to Nearby Major Towns
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| Major Town | Total Crimes | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Telford | 11,302 | 72.55 | - |
| Shrewsbury | 5,628 | 62.64 | 14% safer |
Comparing Telford to the UK's Major Cities
12 Months Ending Apr 2026
| City Name | Crime Rate | Rate Difference |
|---|---|---|
| Telford | 72.55 | - |
| Cardiff | 79.55 | 10% more dangerous |
| Newcastle upon Tyne | 82.69 | 14% more dangerous |
| Sheffield | 84.09 | 16% more dangerous |
| Leicester | 97.87 | 35% more dangerous |
| Bristol | 104.64 | 44% more dangerous |
| Birmingham | 105.05 | 45% more dangerous |
| Liverpool | 106.48 | 47% more dangerous |
| Leeds | 107.10 | 48% more dangerous |
| Nottingham | 107.74 | 49% more dangerous |
| Westminster | 125.00 | 72% more dangerous |
CrimeRate Pro
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You can find out more, or get a CrimeRate Insights report that includes further analysis.
Offences In and Around Telford's Parks & Leisure Spaces
Limited to spaces in Telford 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Central Hall | 1 | 2 | 1 | - | 8 | 13 |
| Lawley Village Green | 3 | - | 3 | - | 8 | 6 |
| Wrockwardine Wood Graveyard | - | - | 1 | - | 2 | 1 |
| Holywell Meadow | - | - | 1 | - | 4 | 0 |
| Leegomery Pools | 26 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 81 | 31 |
| Wellington Civic and Leisure Centre | 21 | 2 | 21 | 2 | 61 | 70 |
| Dothill Local Nature Reserve | 28 | 1 | 10 | - | 65 | 44 |
| The Green | 1 | - | - | - | 15 | 4 |
| The Village Green | 7 | 1 | 1 | - | 27 | 1 |
| Cow Wood | 2 | - | 3 | - | 9 | 2 |
| Croppings Park | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |
| Southall | 2 | - | - | - | - | 0 |
| Wrockwardine wood | 10 | 1 | 10 | 2 | 20 | 52 |
| Lawley and Overdale Community Garden | 2 | - | - | - | 2 | 4 |
| Leegomery Allotments | 3 | 1 | - | - | 3 | 3 |
| Bowring Recreation Ground | 2 | 4 | - | - | 3 | 11 |
| Old Park | 15 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 18 | 105 |
| Randlay Allotments | 2 | - | 2 | - | 4 | 4 |
| Apley Castle Park | 3 | 1 | - | - | 22 | 10 |
| Wellington General Cemetery | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 26 | 15 |
| Hartshill Park | 18 | 2 | - | - | 9 | 3 |
| Cherry Gardens | 10 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 43 | 22 |
| Langleyfield | - | - | 1 | - | 17 | 9 |
| Short Wood Centre | 8 | - | - | - | 9 | 5 |
| Village Green Gardens | 3 | 1 | 1 | - | 6 | 3 |
| Newdale | 3 | - | 1 | - | 6 | 9 |
| Granville Country Park | 3 | - | 1 | - | 8 | 2 |
| Woodlands Park | 6 | 2 | 1 | - | 16 | 5 |
Recent Crimes in Telford
The 20 most recent crime reports in Telford.
| Date | Crime Type | Location | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| April 2026 | Burglary | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Criminal damage and arson | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Drugs | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Other theft | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near The Parade | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near The Parade | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Grange Close | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Shoplifting | On or near The Parade | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Dudmaston | |
| April 2026 | Vehicle crime | On or near Parking Area | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Grange Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Grange Close | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Dodmoor Grange | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Chapel Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Chapel Street | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near Hayward Avenue | |
| April 2026 | Violence and sexual offences | On or near The Parade |
Methodology & Data Sources
Telford 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 Telford during July 2026 will typically become available in September 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.
Telford Data Points
For Telford, 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 E63002505.
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 Telford's daytime - or "workday" - population of 128,256 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 Telford