Is WA8 a safe place to live?

WA8 scores 3 out of 10 for safety (above average crime), compared with every postcode district in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is about the Halton average.

Is crime going up or down in WA8?

Down 12% over 5 years, from 5,835 recorded crimes a year to 5,139.

How does crime in WA8 compare with Halton?

Crime severity in WA8 is about the Halton average.

How many burglaries are solved in WA8?

Of 187 burglaries reported in WA8 between September 2024 and August 2025, 5% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 72% were closed with no suspect identified.

WA8Postcode district

WA8 crime rate and crime map

Recorded crime in WA8 is about the Halton average and 1.1 times the England and Wales average. Over 5 years it has fallen 12%. Most of the harm comes from violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences). Police data to August 2026.

Widnes, Halton. 65,200 residents in 38 neighbourhoods.

Safety in the UK: 3/10Above average crime
Safety in the world: 7/10Low crime
Living: 7.4/10Good
5-year change: −12%fewer crimes
vs the council: 1.0×the Halton average

Open on the map

Safety and Living

Safety

What it measures. How serious the crime recorded here is, not how much of it there is. Each recorded crime is weighted by the typical sentence for that kind of offence (the Office for National Statistics Crime Severity Score), so a robbery counts about 76 times a shoplifting offence. The total per resident is ranked against every neighbourhood. 10 means among the safest tenth.

Data. Street-level crime from data.police.uk, September 2016 to August 2026. Weights: ONS Crime Severity Score, year ending March 2025.

Anti-social behaviour is not a crime and has no weight, so it is left out of the score. It is shown on its own line.
The weights come from sentences in 2015-2019 and one weight covers a whole police.uk category: violence includes both minor assaults and rape, and the data does not say which. A town with more serious cases than the national mix is under-scored.
Some forces have missing months (Greater Manchester published nothing after June 2019). We use the months that exist and say so on the page.
A neighbourhood's score is blended with the neighbourhoods around it, because police.uk records each crime at an approximate location, often the middle of a street that sits on a boundary. Three quarters is its own rate, one quarter the average of the neighbourhoods it touches, weighted by residents. Crimes recorded on a map point within 30 m of a neighbourhood boundary are shared equally between the neighbourhoods on each side, because the point usually sits on the boundary road itself. Where the map shows a neighbourhood's score, its own score is shown as well when it differs.
Busy city and town centres are not scored: few people live there and many visit, so crime per resident would mislead.
It counts crimes that were reported and recorded, not every crime. In Scotland there is no Safety score yet; Living covers it.
On the map you can filter by crime type. The filter changes the crime figures, the Safety score and the map colours, and compares with the national figure for the same types.
Crime Rates Map is a guide, not advice. Visit the area before you decide.

Read the full method

Crime severity: about the Halton average (1.1× the England and Wales average)

Crime only, by how serious it is. Compared with every postcode district. Higher is safer.

Living

Based on schools, transport, health, supermarkets, weighted by importance. Crime is not part of it. Higher is better.

Crime over 5 years

Down 12% in 5 years Recorded crimes in WA8, anti-social behaviour left out.

What is recorded

Crime severity: about the Halton average (1.1× the England and Wales average). 91 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year.

Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences): 71% of the harm here
Burglary: 11% of the harm here
Drugs: 4% of the harm here

"Violence and sexual offences" is 71% of the harm here. It is a broad police category: most of these crimes are assaults without injury, harassment and threats, often indoors between people who know each other, and only a small part are sexual or serious violent offences. Police data does not say which, so each one is weighted at the England and Wales average for the category, which can overstate a quiet residential area.

Anti-social behaviour: 22 incidents per 1,000 residents a year, not scored. Not a crime, so it is not part of the Safety score.

Shops, transport, schools and health

Distances are straight-line, not walking routes. Scores use fixed distance bands, so they do not depend on other districts. Higher is better.

Supermarkets

Fair accessScore 6 out of 10

Typical distance to a large supermarket: 2.7 km.
Asda Widnes Superstore (Asda), 1.7 km from the district centre
M&S Widnes (Marks and Spencer), 2.0 km from the district centre
Morrisons Widnes (Morrisons), 2.2 km from the district centre

Transport

Good accessScore 8 out of 10

Typical number of bus stops within 400 m: 5.
Nearest railway station: Widnes Rail Station, 1.1 km from the district centre
Nearest tram or metro stop: Altrincham Station (Manchester Metrolink), 43.9 km from the district centre

Schools

Good schools nearbyScore 8 out of 10

Primary schools within 2 km

Cronton Church of England Primary Academy: Outstanding (graded inspection, 2024), 70 m away
Our Lady of Perpetual Succour Catholic Primary School: Good (graded inspection, 2019), 190 m away
Fairfield Primary School: Good (ungraded inspection, 2024), 210 m away
St Bede's Catholic Infant School: Outstanding (graded inspection, 2023), 350 m away
St Gerard's Catholic Primary and Nursery School: Strong standard (report card, 2026), 510 m away

Secondary schools within 2 km

Wade Deacon High School: Outstanding (graded inspection, 2022), 180 m away
Ormiston Chadwick Academy: Good (graded inspection, 2024), 490 m away
Saints Peter and Paul Catholic High School: Good (ungraded inspection, 2022), 560 m away

Health

Good accessScore 7 out of 10

Nearest GP surgery: FIR PARK MEDICAL CENTRE, 880 m from the district centre, CQC rating: Good
Nearest hospital with A&E: Warrington Hospital, 15.0 km from the district centre

Crime by type

Recorded crimes per 1,000 residents per year, most serious first, not counting anti-social behaviour.

Type	Per 1,000 a year
Robbery	0.6
Burglary	4.2
Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences)	40.7
Drugs	3.1
Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons)	0.7
Other crime	2.1
Other theft	5.4
Theft from the person (pickpocketing, bag snatching)	0.4
Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into)	3.4
Criminal damage and arson (vandalism)	9.4
Public order	13.9
Bicycle theft	1.1
Shoplifting	5.5

How often crimes lead to a charge

In WA8, 13% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%).

Charged or summonsed
Caution or other action
Suspect found, not prosecuted
No suspect identified
Still open

Show as a table

Type	Crimes	Charged or summonsed	Caution or other action	Suspect found, not prosecuted	No suspect identified	Still open
Violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences)	2,594	11%	7%	63%	13%	5%
Public order	622	11%	4%	52%	29%	4%
Criminal damage and arson (vandalism)	410	10%	7%	25%	55%	3%
Other theft	320	4%	1%	25%	63%	6%
Shoplifting	275	29%	5%	11%	53%	3%
Drugs	268	29%	50%	11%	4%	5%
Burglary	187	5%	0%	20%	72%	3%
Other crime	160	20%	5%	59%	10%	6%
Vehicle crime (cars stolen and broken into)	138	4%	0%	11%	80%	5%
Robbery	58	17%	3%	50%	29%	0%
Possession of weapons (knives and other weapons)	54	35%	2%	41%	20%	2%

Uses the latest outcome police have recorded so far. 4% of these crimes are still open, so the final figures may be a little higher.

Trend over the years

Crime severity per resident (sentence-days of the crimes recorded each year). Hatched bars are years with fewer than twelve months of data for most residents.

Last 12 months: 16.0 against a 10-year average of 17.1, 6% lower.

Questions about crime in WA8

Is WA8 a safe place to live?: WA8 scores 3 out of 10 for safety (above average crime), compared with every postcode district in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Crime severity is about the Halton average.
Is crime going up or down in WA8?: Down 12% over 5 years, from 5,835 recorded crimes a year to 5,139.
What is the most common crime in WA8?: The most common recorded crime is violence and sexual offences (assaults, harassment, sexual offences), about 41 per 1,000 residents a year.
How does crime in WA8 compare with Halton?: Crime severity in WA8 is about the Halton average.
How often does crime lead to a charge in WA8?: In WA8, 13% of crimes reported between September 2024 and August 2025 led to someone being charged or summonsed (England and Wales: 9%). 28% were closed without a suspect being identified.
How many burglaries are solved in WA8?: Of 187 burglaries reported in WA8 between September 2024 and August 2025, 5% led to someone being charged or summonsed and 72% were closed with no suspect identified.

Towns

Widnes

Council: Halton

Town-centre neighbourhoods

Few people live in these areas but many shop, work and go out there, so crime per resident looks far higher than the risk to someone living there. They have no Safety score, because compared with residential areas the number would mislead; their crime figures are still shown.

Halton 007A: 433 recorded crimes per 1,000 residents a year, mostly shop and street theft.