Crime in Vale of White Horse: statistics, rates and trends

7,947 crimes were recorded in Vale of White Horse in the 12 months to August 2026, 53.2 per 1,000 residents. That is lower than the England and Wales rate of 96.7, and down 2% on the year before.

Crime map

Circle size: number of crimesSeptember 2025 to August 2026. Source: data.police.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0

Violence and sexual offences (3,252), anti-social behaviour (1,010) and public order (689) made up 62% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 282nd of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest tenth.

MeasureVale of White HorseOxfordshireEngland and Wales
Crimes, the 12 months to August 20267,94751,3035,618,064
Crimes per 1,000 residents53.267.296.7
Change on previous 12 months-2%-1%-1%
Population149,347763,21858,127,638

Recorded crime in Vale of White Horse peaked in the year to August 2022 (8,236 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2018 (5,768). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it rose 38%, while across England and Wales it fell 4%.

PeriodCrimesPer 1,000England and Wales per 1,000
Year to August 20267,94753.296.7
Year to August 20258,10754.397.2
Year to August 20247,83252.497.9
Year to August 20237,83452.5n/a
Year to August 20228,23655.1102.0
Year to August 20217,38849.5101.4
Year to August 20206,53243.7102.7
Year to August 20195,79638.8101.7
Year to August 20185,76838.6100.8

Month by month

MonthCrimes
August 2026714
July 2026805
June 2026693
May 2026660
April 2026625
March 2026628
February 2026558
January 2026634
December 2025614
November 2025657
October 2025697
September 2025662

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and robbery (82% below) and theft from the person (79% below) were well below it. On the year before, burglary rose from 278 to 364 and other crime rose from 167 to 205, while robbery fell from 62 to 36 and shoplifting fell from 610 to 459.

Crime typeCrimesPer 1,000England and Wales per 1,000Change on year
Violence and sexual offences3,25221.834.2-1%
Anti-social behaviour1,0106.815.4-1%
Public order6894.66.7-3%
Criminal damage and arson6354.36.7-10%
Other theft5924.06.4+13%
Shoplifting4593.18.5-25%
Burglary3642.43.6+31%
Drugs2651.83.3+3%
Vehicle crime2511.75.0-13%
Other crime2051.42.1+23%
Bicycle theft840.60.8-7%
Theft from the person530.41.7-12%
Possession of weapons520.31.0-12%
Robbery360.21.4-42%

What each category covers: crime categories.

6,925 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Vale of White Horse in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 46.4 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was up 1% on the year ending March 2025 (6,851), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Vale of White Horse had the 22nd 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).

Offences recorded in Vale of White Horse, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 1,125 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 theft from the person (0.19 times), robbery of business property (0.30 times) and trafficking of drugs (0.33 times).

The largest rises on the year were in rape (+20%) and stalking and harassment (+19%). The largest falls were in trafficking of drugs (−39%) and bicycle theft (−20%). 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).

OffenceOffencesPer 1,000England and Wales per 1,000Index (E&W = 1.00)Change on 2024/25
Violence without injury1,1257.513.20.57+3%
Stalking and harassment1,1107.410.10.74+19%
Public order offences7435.07.00.71+6%
Violence with injury6364.38.10.52−8%
Criminal damage6144.16.80.60−10%
Other theft offences5863.96.50.60+17%
Shoplifting4573.18.10.38–
Possession of drugs2581.72.50.69+5%
Vehicle offences2581.75.00.34−9%
Other sexual offences2241.52.30.66+3%
Residential burglary1951.32.50.52+13%
Miscellaneous crimes against society1631.12.10.52+10%
Rape1180.791.20.65+20%
Non-residential burglary1040.701.10.62+18%
Bicycle theft780.520.850.61−20%
Possession of weapons620.421.000.42−3%
Trafficking of drugs580.391.20.33−39%
Theft from the person490.331.80.19+9%
Arson450.300.380.79+10%
Robbery of business property210.140.470.30–
Robbery of personal property190.130.910.14−49%
Homicide20.010.011.67–
Death or serious injury caused by unlawful driving00.000.030.00–

Recorded crime in Vale of White Horse 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. Vale of White Horse's rate was below the England and Wales rate in every one of those 14 years. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Year ending MarchOffencesPer 1,000England and Wales per 1,000
20266,92546.483.2
20256,85145.984.5
20246,71845.086.2
20236,80145.589.2
20227,07047.385.4
20216,16041.274.1
20205,87139.384.7
20195,42636.384.1
20184,89232.878.2
20174,38529.469.1
20164,39729.462.3
20154,05527.257.1
20144,13027.755.9
20133,74725.156.7

Districts in the Thames Valley Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 13 districts in the Thames Valley Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Vale of White Horse had the 4th lowest rate.

DistrictOffencesPer 1,000Index (E&W = 1.00)
Reading17,91597.91.18
Oxford15,98796.31.16
Slough14,78488.31.06
Milton Keynes26,84387.81.05
Cherwell10,85463.70.77
Windsor and Maidenhead9,08157.10.69
West Berkshire9,07855.00.66
Buckinghamshire31,03853.60.64
Bracknell Forest6,88152.60.63
Vale of White Horse6,92546.40.56
West Oxfordshire5,17342.80.51
South Oxfordshire6,35940.60.49
Wokingham7,34139.20.47

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.

5 of the 8 nearest districts have a higher crime rate than Vale of White Horse; the highest is Reading district (112.0 per 1,000) and the lowest Wokingham district (45.1).

DistrictCrimesPer 1,000Rate vs Vale of White Horse
Oxford17,767107.0+101%
South Oxfordshire7,44047.5-11%
West Oxfordshire5,92449.0-8%
West Berkshire10,75665.1+22%
Swindon19,93581.7+54%
Reading20,492112.0+111%
Cherwell12,22571.7+35%
Wokingham8,43845.1-15%

Of the 43 areas within Vale of White Horse, Abingdon Fitzharris had the highest crime rate (134.2 per 1,000) and Chawley the lowest (16.3), 8 times apart.

AreaTypePopulationCrimesPer 1,000
Abingdon FitzharrisNeighbourhood5,663760134.2
Abingdon Abbey NorthcourtNeighbourhood6,383799125.2
Milton HillTown2,13616376.3
Abingdon-on-ThamesTown32,9532,25768.5
Wantage CharltonNeighbourhood8,18056068.5
FaringdonTown10,38369366.7
WantageTown13,72688464.4
Blewbury & HarwellNeighbourhood10,77466561.7
ShipponTown2,32614060.2
HarwellTown3,25319158.7
Wantage & Grove BrookNeighbourhood7,30241456.7
Grove NorthNeighbourhood9,01550756.2
SteventonTown2,20312355.8
Grove (Vale of White Horse)Town10,77159755.4
HendredsNeighbourhood3,78220353.7
Stanford in the ValeTown3,09816152.0
Drayton (Vale of White Horse)Town3,27916249.4
DraytonNeighbourhood3,27916249.4
StanfordNeighbourhood5,70227247.7
Abingdon CaldecottNeighbourhood8,38039447.0
Shrivenham and WatchfieldTown7,31533545.8
Watchfield & ShrivenhamNeighbourhood7,31533545.8
MarchamNeighbourhood4,95822244.8
Steventon & the HanneysNeighbourhood5,41824244.7
Botley & SunningwellNeighbourhood7,92734944.0
Sutton CourtenayTown3,60515843.8
Uffington (Vale of White Horse)Town2,60411142.6
KenningtonTown4,65018038.7
Boars HillTown1,9157438.6
RidgewayNeighbourhood2,91511238.4
Kennington & RadleyNeighbourhood8,16031038.0
BlewburyTown2,1868137.1
RadleyTown3,51013037.0
Chilton (Vale of White Horse)Town1,9166533.9
Wootton (Vale of White Horse)Town2,9959832.7
WoottonNeighbourhood2,9959832.7
MarchamTown2,6328231.2
CumnorNeighbourhood6,04216827.8
Kingston BagpuizeTown4,56212627.6
Abingdon DunmoreNeighbourhood6,10216426.9
ThamesNeighbourhood4,0809423.0
Abingdon PeachcroftNeighbourhood6,42514021.8
ChawleyTown2,1473516.3

The 10 locations below account for 17% of the crime recorded in Vale of White Horse over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (263).

LocationCrimes
On or near Parking Area263
On or near Supermarket260
On or near Thornley Close199
On or near Sports/Recreation Area160
On or near High Street116
On or near Shopping Area80
On or near Further/Higher Educational Building71
On or near The Square70
On or near Petrol Station62
On or near Dakota Drive61

Of the 6,937 crimes in Vale of White Horse with a recorded outcome, 30% 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 1,010 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

OutcomeCrimesShareEngland and Wales
Unable to prosecute suspect2,52736.4%34.5%
Investigation complete; no suspect identified2,09730.2%35.3%
Under investigation93113.4%11.5%
Status update unavailable4196.0%4.7%
Local resolution2703.9%3.1%
Awaiting court outcome2273.3%5.2%
Action to be taken by another organisation1962.8%1.3%
Court result unavailable1291.9%2.5%
Offender given a caution600.9%0.6%
Further investigation is not in the public interest510.7%0.5%
Suspect charged as part of another case190.3%0.0%
Formal action is not in the public interest60.1%0.3%

Vale of White Horse has an estimated population of 149,347 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (12%, against 23%), fewer residents with no qualifications (13%, against 18%) and fewer students (5.5%, against 7.9%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Vale of White Horse average decile 8.1 (1 = most deprived), less deprived than average.

MeasureVale of White HorseEngland and Wales
Aged 0 to 1519.6%18.3%
Aged 65 and over19.9%18.9%
Residents 16+ in work63.0%57.2%
Residents 16+ unemployed2.2%3.4%
Residents 16+ retired22.8%21.6%
Residents 16+ who are students5.5%7.9%
Residents 16+ with Level 4 qualifications or above (degree, HND and similar)44.0%33.8%
Residents 16+ with no qualifications12.5%18.2%
Households with no car or van12.2%23.3%
Homes owned outright or with a mortgage70.0%62.5%
Social rented homes14.3%17.1%
Private rented homes15.7%20.3%
Average deprivation decile (1 = most deprived, 10 = least)8.15.5 (England)

433 fly-tipping incidents were recorded in Vale of White Horse in 2024/25 (2.9 per 1,000 residents, against 21.1 across the councils in England that count all incidents), according to the council's return to Defra. Fly-tipping is not in the police figures on this page: fly-tipping in Vale of White Horse has the council's figures by place, type of waste and size, and its enforcement actions and fines.

Is Vale of White Horse a safe place to live?

Vale of White Horse recorded 53.2 crimes per 1,000 residents in the 12 months to August 2026, lower than the England and Wales rate of 96.7, and ranks 282nd of the 302 districts on this site by crime rate (1 = highest).

What is the most common crime in Vale of White Horse?

Violence and sexual offences was the most common category, with 3,252 reports in the 12 months to August 2026, followed by anti-social behaviour (1,010).

Is crime in Vale of White Horse going up or down?

Recorded crime in Vale of White Horse was down 2% on the year before: 7,947 crimes in the 12 months to August 2026 against 8,107 in the previous 12 months.

What is the population of Vale of White Horse?

About 149,347 people (ONS mid-2024 estimate), 20% of them aged 65 or over (England and Wales: 19%).

Which police force covers Vale of White Horse?

Vale of White Horse is policed by Thames Valley.

How many crimes did the police record in Vale of White Horse in the year ending March 2026?

6,925 crimes, excluding fraud, in the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics: 46.4 per 1,000 residents, against 83.2 across England and Wales. In the year ending March 2025 the figure was 6,851.

Which offences are more common in Vale of White Horse than across England and Wales?

None: no category with at least 20 offences had a rate a quarter or more above the England and Wales rate in the year ending March 2026. The largest category was violence without injury (1,125).

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

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<a href="https://policestatistics.co.uk/districts/vale-of-white-horse">https://policestatistics.co.uk/districts/vale-of-white-horse</a>