Crime in North Kesteven: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (2,634), anti-social behaviour (1,556) and criminal damage and arson (476) made up 69% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 279th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest tenth.

Recorded crime in North Kesteven peaked in the year to August 2020 (6,901 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (5,292). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 27%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

Month by month

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and robbery (81% below) and drugs (75% below) were well below it. On the year before, possession of weapons rose from 23 to 42 and bicycle theft rose from 20 to 35, while shoplifting fell from 467 to 395.

What each category covers: crime categories.

4,786 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in North Kesteven in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 39.1 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, North Kesteven had the 3rd 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).

No change on the year or longer series is given for North Kesteven: comparable figures start in the year ending March 2026, because the share of crimes in the Lincolnshire Police area not assigned to a district moved from 1.7% in the year ending March 2025 to 0.1% in the year ending March 2026, which changes district totals without any change in crime.

Offences recorded in North Kesteven, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was stalking and harassment, with 761 offences (16% of the total). No category with at least 20 offences had a rate a quarter or more above the England and Wales rate. Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for possession of drugs (0.20 times), robbery of personal property (0.21 times) and possession of weapons (0.23 times).

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

Of the 7 districts in the Lincolnshire Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, North Kesteven had the lowest 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.

Every one of the 8 nearest districts has a higher crime rate than North Kesteven.

Of the 46 areas within North Kesteven, Sleaford Westholme had the highest crime rate (154.3 per 1,000) and Ashby de la Launde the lowest (23.1), 7 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 19% of the crime recorded in North Kesteven over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Supermarket” (434).

Of the 5,160 crimes in North Kesteven with a recorded outcome, 31% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 3.6% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 1,556 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

North Kesteven has an estimated population of 122,468 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (11%, against 23%), less social housing (10%, against 17%) and fewer students (4.8%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up North Kesteven average decile 7.1 (1 = most deprived), less 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.