Crime in Newcastle-under-Lyme district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (4,646), anti-social behaviour (2,014) and public order (948) made up 67% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 136th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the upper half.

Recorded crime in Newcastle-under-Lyme district peaked in the year to August 2018 (11,886 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2024 (9,236). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 5%, in line with England and Wales.

Month by month

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and theft from the person (89% below) and vehicle crime (42% below) were well below it. On the year before, public order rose from 778 to 948 and bicycle theft rose from 65 to 79, while theft from the person fell from 35 to 24.

What each category covers: crime categories.

8,999 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Newcastle-under-Lyme district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 70.5 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was up 13% on the year ending March 2025 (7,954), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Newcastle-under-Lyme district had the 124th lowest 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 Staffordshire Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.7% 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 Newcastle-under-Lyme district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Newcastle-under-Lyme district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was stalking and harassment, with 1,778 offences (20% of the total). Relative to England and Wales, rates were highest for stalking and harassment (1.4 times the national rate). Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for theft from the person (0.12 times), robbery of personal property (0.43 times) and trafficking of drugs (0.46 times).

The largest rises on the year were in arson (+76%) and other sexual offences (+35%). The largest falls were in theft from the person (−32%) and robbery of personal property (−22%). 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 Newcastle-under-Lyme district since the year ending March 2021

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2021 to 2026. Newcastle-under-Lyme district's rate was below the England and Wales rate in every one of those 6 years. The series starts in the year ending March 2021 because the share of crimes in the Staffordshire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 3.1% in the year ending March 2020 to 1.9% in the year ending March 2021, 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 Staffordshire Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 9 districts in the Staffordshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Newcastle-under-Lyme district had the 3rd 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.

2 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Newcastle-under-Lyme district; the highest is Stoke-on-Trent district (139.7 per 1,000) and the lowest Derbyshire Dales (55.9).

Of the 32 areas within Newcastle-under-Lyme district, Town had the highest crime rate (382.0 per 1,000) and Loggerheads the lowest (26.1), 15 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 23% of the crime recorded in Newcastle-under-Lyme district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (601).

Of the 9,309 crimes in Newcastle-under-Lyme district with a recorded outcome, 27% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 3.3% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 2,014 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Newcastle-under-Lyme district has an estimated population of 127,727 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has less private renting (14%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Newcastle-under-Lyme district average decile 5.7 (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.