Crime in Ashfield: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (4,659), anti-social behaviour (2,125) and shoplifting (1,420) made up 63% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 96th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the upper half.

Recorded crime in Ashfield peaked in the year to August 2020 (14,848 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (12,652). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 12%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Ashfield recorded notably more other crime (2.0 times the national rate), possession of weapons (48% above the national rate) and shoplifting (30% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (76% below) and bicycle theft (31% below). On the year before, robbery rose from 108 to 174 and other crime rose from 400 to 541, while drugs fell from 351 to 294 and theft from the person fell from 62 to 52.

What each category covers: crime categories.

10,321 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Ashfield in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 79.7 per 1,000 residents, close to the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was almost unchanged on the year ending March 2025 (10,263), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Ashfield had the 116th highest rate (the street-level ranking above is among the 302 districts with street-level pages on this site, over the 12 months to August 2026).

Of the crimes recorded in the Nottinghamshire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.3% were not assigned to a district. Those crimes are counted in the force and England and Wales totals but in no district, so the figure for Ashfield is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Ashfield, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,418 offences (14% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for arson (1.4 times the national rate), possession of weapons (1.4 times the national rate) and robbery of business property (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.21 times), possession of drugs (0.65 times) and vehicle offences (0.73 times).

The largest rises on the year were in bicycle theft (+29%) and non-residential burglary (+25%). The largest falls were in theft from the person (−23%). Robbery of business property and shoplifting are not compared with the year ending March 2025: from April 2025 the Home Office Counting Rules were clarified so that a theft from a shop in which violence is used or threatened against staff or anyone else is recorded as robbery of business property rather than shoplifting (ONS).

Recorded crime in Ashfield since the year ending March 2013

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2013 to 2026. Ashfield's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 3 of those 14 years and below it in 11. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Districts in the Nottinghamshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 5 districts in the Nottinghamshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Ashfield had the 2nd lowest rate. Broxtowe, Gedling and Rushcliffe are not in the table because the Home Office publishes each of them jointly with a neighbouring district, as one community safety partnership.

Source: Home Office police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables (released 23 July 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. Financial years, excluding fraud; how they differ from the street-level figures: methodology.

2 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Ashfield; the highest is Nottingham district (157.2 per 1,000) and the lowest Gedling (69.1).

Of the 32 areas within Ashfield, Carsic had the highest crime rate (227.4 per 1,000) and Larwood the lowest (37.2), 6 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 23% of the crime recorded in Ashfield over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (621).

Of the 10,882 crimes in Ashfield with a recorded outcome, 30% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 7.2% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,125 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Ashfield has an estimated population of 129,572 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer students (4.6%, against 7.9%), fewer residents with Level 4 qualifications or above (22%, against 34%) and more residents with no qualifications (24%, against 18%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Ashfield average decile 4.5 (1 = most deprived), close to the middle.

Police-recorded crime from data.police.uk (September 2017 to August 2026), ONS population estimates and Census 2021. Definitions and limitations: methodology.