Crime in Blackburn with Darwen: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (7,034), anti-social behaviour (3,569) and criminal damage and arson (1,355) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 71st of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the highest quarter.

The year to August 2026 had the least recorded crime in Blackburn with Darwen of any year here (17,854 crimes). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 23%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

Compared with England and Wales, Blackburn with Darwen recorded notably more other crime (46% above the national rate), anti-social behaviour (43% above the national rate) and possession of weapons (28% above the national rate), and notably less theft from the person (77% below) and bicycle theft (68% below). On the year before, drugs rose from 439 to 571 and public order rose from 958 to 1,146, while anti-social behaviour fell from 5,687 to 3,569 and shoplifting fell from 1,181 to 893.

What each category covers: crime categories.

13,682 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Blackburn with Darwen in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 84.2 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 (13,807), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Blackburn with Darwen had the 99th 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 Lancashire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 2.0% 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 Blackburn with Darwen is an undercount.

Offences recorded in Blackburn with Darwen, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 2,395 offences (18% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for miscellaneous crimes against society (1.4 times the national rate) and violence with injury (1.3 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.24 times), bicycle theft (0.44 times) and trafficking of drugs (0.59 times).

The largest rises on the year were in bicycle theft (+52%) and possession of drugs (+37%). The largest falls were in non-residential burglary (−40%) and residential burglary (−21%). 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 Blackburn with Darwen since the year ending March 2019

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2019 to 2026. Blackburn with Darwen's rate was above the England and Wales rate in 6 of those 8 years and below it in 2. The series starts in the year ending March 2019 because the share of crimes in the Lancashire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 0.5% in the year ending March 2018 to 1.7% in the year ending March 2019, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

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

Of the 14 districts in the Lancashire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Blackburn with Darwen had the 5th highest rate.

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.

3 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Blackburn with Darwen; the highest is Burnley district (141.4 per 1,000) and the lowest Ribble Valley (50.3).

Of the 21 areas within Blackburn with Darwen, Blackburn Central had the highest crime rate (259.6 per 1,000) and Edgworth the lowest (30.3), 9 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 19% of the crime recorded in Blackburn with Darwen over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (648).

Of the 14,285 crimes in Blackburn with Darwen with a recorded outcome, 27% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.1% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 3,569 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Blackburn with Darwen has an estimated population of 162,540 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has more residents with no qualifications (24%, against 18%), a younger population (14%, against 19%) and more children (23%, against 18%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Blackburn with Darwen average decile 3.3 (1 = most deprived), more deprived than average.

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