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Lancashire Counts — Lancashire, in numbers.Local help →

Rossendale, in numbers

Crime and safety: Rossendale

Rossendale local authority area. Every figure carries its own date.

What the recorded figures show, and what they cannot tell us.

Recorded crime and population

A larger population can mean more recorded offences even when the number of offences per resident falls. Read the total and the rate together.

Rossendale · 2025/26 · Territorial police-recorded offences excluding fraud; British Transport Police excluded by CSP source. Source classifications retained.

Recorded offences

4,835

Offences per 1,000 residents

66.2

Population used for the rate

About 73,000

2024 mid-year population

The source rounds this population to the nearest 100. The rate shown is the official published rate.

Show the figures and workings

The rate is recorded offences divided by the population, multiplied by 1,000. Where the source rounds its population figure, we retain its published rate rather than recalculate it from that rounded figure. This counts offences, not the percentage of residents who were victims.

Checked counts and population-based rates
PeriodOffencesPopulation usedPer 1,000 residents
2025/264,835About 73,000 (2024)66.2

These figures match the source area for this period. That does not establish a comparable history for today’s council boundaries.

Official source and method →
Can we test the population theory over 30 years?

Only where the offence definitions, recording practices and area boundaries are comparable. Changes in reporting, police recording and the types of crime matter too. We do not join incompatible series or invent missing years.

Only the latest independently checked observation is displayed. A comparable long-run crime-and-population trend has not been established.

  • 2002/03: Series starts after April 2002 recording-standard introduction; not comparable to pre-2002 records.
  • 2013/14: Offence grouping revision; source back-series retained. Recording practice changes also affect comparisons.
  • 2017/18: Burglary classification changed; broad total retained but detailed groups need review.
  • 2023/24: Burglary subcategories and recording-rule changes require interpretation review.

A comparable 30-year crime-and-population trend has not been established for this area.

For example, if offences rose by 10% while population rose by 20%, offences per resident would fall by about 8%. This is an illustration, not a finding about this area.

People commuting or visiting can also affect offences recorded in a place. The resident population is a useful common denominator, but does not count everyone present.

What could help? Follow the types and locations of repeated problems, check residents’ experiences, and assess the response. Area population totals do not identify who commits offences.

Local issues and proposed responses →

Police-recorded locations for Rossendale local authority area. Locations are approximate; these are not all crimes or a measure of personal risk.

5,007 mapped crimes

September 2025 to August 2026. Compared with 4,760 in the previous 12 months. Anti-social behaviour is counted separately.

Mapped crime over time

September 2024 to August 2026

Rossendale local authority area · mapped crimes

Reviewed figures: September 2024 to August 2026. This reviewed record covers fewer than 30 years, so the chart opens on all of it.

Shown on this chart: 414 mapped crimes in September 2024; 383 mapped crimes in August 2026. These are recorded counts; check the coverage notes before comparing periods.

The line joins consecutive published observations.

Monthly crime and anti-social behaviour
Recorded locations by month · Rossendale
MonthMapped crimeAnti-social behaviour
September 2024414149
October 2024381214
November 2024396214
December 2024352145
January 2025366168
February 2025374137
March 2025397192
April 2025410229
May 2025408230
June 2025430196
July 2025427211
August 2025405182
September 2025411146
October 2025326165
November 2025363132
December 2025384141
January 2026438116
February 202640365
March 202647576
April 202646490
May 202647394
June 202644377
July 2026444139
August 2026383121
Crime categories in the latest complete year
September 2025 to August 2026 · Rossendale
CategoryMapped crimes
violent crime2,521
criminal damage arson547
shoplifting378
public order349
other theft348
vehicle crime250
burglary231
other crime146
drugs124
possession of weapons51
robbery30
theft from the person18
bicycle theft14
What these numbers include

Approximate published locations, not every crime or personal risk.

Anti-social behaviour is separate. Transport police and unusable locations excluded.

An empty ward count means no mapped rows in the complete required force files; it does not prove that no crime occurred.

These are retrieved mapped records, not a guarantee of complete crime reporting. Approximate locations and unmapped incidents limit comparisons.

Missing ward-months invalidate totals and changes. Busy centres attract visitors, so residential population is not a measure of the number of people exposed.

Police data and method →

What could improve local safety →