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Crime

Crime in Cherwell by area

Every neighbourhood we cover, ranked by crimes per 1,000 residents a year, from police.uk figures for June to August 2026. Highest first. Pick a type of crime to re-rank, or tap a column to sort.

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3,267crimes recordedJune to August 2026
+3%on the 3 months beforemore crime
Launtonlowest rate10.1 per 1,000 a year
40.9middle areacrimes per 1,000 a year

Darker means more crime per resident. Tap an area for its page.

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Most improved: Bicester (-5%), Kidlington (-4%) and Banbury (10%), compared with the three months before.

Every area, ranked

#Most common
1BanburyOX16 · 47,605 residents 119.9▲ 10%violence
2BicesterOX26 · 37,172 residents 93.7▼ 5%violence
3ArncottOX25 · 2,018 residents 89.2▼ 10%violence
4BegbrokeOX5 · 1,627 residents 78.7▲ 88%violence
5Drayton (OX15)OX15 · 8,072 residents 71.9▲ 12%violence
6Heyford ParkOX25 · 3,243 residents 71.5▲ 100%violence
7KidlingtonOX5 · 19,004 residents 56.2▼ 4%violence
8ChestertonOX26 · 1,883 residents 55.2▼ 10%violence
9YarntonOX5 · 3,524 residents 40.9▼ 8%violence
10BodicoteOX15 · 6,362 residents 39.6▼ 23%violence
11BloxhamOX15 · 4,787 residents 39.30%violence
12AdderburyOX17 · 3,490 residents 30.9▲ 4%violence
13Hook NortonOX15 · 2,833 residents 25.4▲ 38%violence
14FritwellOX27 · 1,913 residents 25.1–violence
15CropredyOX17 · 1,544 residents 23.3–violence
16BletchingdonOX5 · 1,664 residents 21.6▼ 10%violence
17LauntonOX26 · 1,979 residents 10.1▼ 71%violence

Change compares the last three months with the three before. A dash means too few crimes to compare fairly.

Why busy centres look worst

Crimes are counted where they happen, but residents are counted where they live. Town centres and shopping areas have lots of shops, bars and visitors and not many residents, so their rates come out high even though most people there are just passing through.

How we work it out

Each area is a circle round its middle, the same as on its MeBabber page. We count the crimes police.uk records inside the circle over the last three months and turn that into a yearly figure, then divide by the number of people who live inside the circle, from the 2021 Census. Police locations are moved slightly on purpose to protect victims, so treat small differences between neighbouring areas with a pinch of salt.

Sources: data.police.uk and the Office for National Statistics, both under the Open Government Licence. Figures update every month.

Crime in every area

Questions people ask

Which areas of Cherwell have the lowest crime?

Over June to August 2026, the areas with the fewest crimes per 1,000 residents were Launton, Bletchingdon, Cropredy, Fritwell and Hook Norton.

Which areas of Cherwell have the highest crime?

Leaving aside the big shopping and industrial areas, where visitors and workers push the figures up, the highest rates over June to August 2026 were in Banbury, Bicester, Arncott, Begbroke and Drayton (OX15).

Is crime going up or down in Cherwell?

Across Cherwell, 3,267 crimes were recorded over June to August 2026, 3% more than the three months before.

How is crime per 1,000 residents worked out?

We count the crimes police.uk records inside each area, turn the last three months into a yearly figure, and divide by the number of people who live there from the 2021 Census.