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Crime

Crime in West Lancashire 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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1,973crimes recordedJune to August 2026
+9%on the 3 months beforemore crime
Bickerstaffelowest rate9.3 per 1,000 a year
34.8middle areacrimes per 1,000 a year

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

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Most improved: Upholland (-2%), Burscough (5%) and Skelmersdale (6%), compared with the three months before.

Every area, ranked

#Most common
1SkelmersdaleWN8 · 35,454 residents 106.6▲ 6%violence
2BurscoughL40 · 9,622 residents 80.6▲ 5%violence
3DaltonWN8 · 4,993 residents 69.70%violence
4OrmskirkL39 · 25,389 residents 61▲ 20%violence
5BecconsallPR4 · 4,541 residents 44.9▲ 16%violence
6TarletonPR4 · 6,303 residents 43.8▼ 12%violence
7RuffordL40 · 2,163 residents 38.8▲ 31%anti-social behaviour
8BanksPR9 · 4,682 residents 35.9▼ 32%violence
9UphollandWN8 · 25,955 residents 34.8▼ 2%violence
10AughtonL39 · 9,584 residents 33.80%violence
11LathomL40 · 2,150 residents 33.5▼ 45%violence
12Town GreenL39 · 6,627 residents 32▲ 8%violence
13ParboldWN8 · 5,635 residents 19.9▲ 12%violence
14NewburghWN8 · 3,217 residents 18.7▼ 17%violence
15Appley BridgeWN6 · 4,284 residents 18.7▼ 5%anti-social behaviour
16ScarisbrickL40 · 2,436 residents 18.1▼ 35%anti-social behaviour
17Hesketh BankPR4 · 4,187 residents 16.2▲ 13%violence
18BickerstaffeL39 · 2,158 residents 9.3–anti-social behaviour

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 West Lancashire have the lowest crime?

Over June to August 2026, the areas with the fewest crimes per 1,000 residents were Bickerstaffe, Hesketh Bank, Scarisbrick, Appley Bridge and Newburgh.

Which areas of West Lancashire 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 Skelmersdale, Burscough, Dalton, Ormskirk and Becconsall.

Is crime going up or down in West Lancashire?

Across West Lancashire, 1,973 crimes were recorded over June to August 2026, 9% 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.