Warrington's most dangerous streets revealed in crime stats

Friars Gate in the town centre was the biggest hotspot for crime in Warrington last year according to police.uk figures.

A total of 205 crimes were reported on this short stretch between Bridge Street and Barbauld Street in 2018 - more than one incident every other day.

Offences were reported nearly one in every three days on Midland Way and Bridge Street - which had the second and third highest number of crimes respectively, with 119 and 114.

Patten Lane and Westminster Place were the other town centre streets in the top 10, coming in at sixth and 10th with 93 and 73 crimes reported.

Westminster Place

Meanwhile Poplars Avenue in Orford had the highest number of reported crimes for a residential street, with 103.

Fitzwalter Road in Woolston had the fifth highest number of offences with 98,while Browning Drive in Winwick was seventh with 83.

Fitzwalter Road

Brighton Street in Whitecross and Longford Street in Orford were the other roads making the top 10 crime hotspots, with 80 and 76 crimes reported on each.

The 10 streets in Warrington with the highest number of crimes reported in 2018 according to police.uk:

1. Friars Gate, town centre (205 crimes)

Including criminal damage and arson, drug-related offences, theft, public order offences, violence and sexual offences, robbery, bicycle theft, possession of weapons, theft from person, anti-social behaviour

2. Midland Way, town centre (119)

Including criminal damage and arson, theft, public order offences, shoplifting, violence and sexual offences, vehicle crime, theft from person

3. Bridge Street, town centre (114)

Including public order offences, violence and sexual offences, anti-social behaviour, theft, vehicle crime, criminal damage and arson, drug-related offences, bicycle theft, possession of weapons

4. Poplars Avenue, Orford (103)

Including anti-social behaviour, criminal damage and arson, public order offences, vehicle crime, violence and sexual offences, drug-related offences, theft, possession of weapons, bicycle theft, burglary

5. Fitzwalter Road, Woolston (98)

Including anti-social behaviour, burglary, public order offences, violence and sexual offences

6. Patten Lane, town centre (93)

Including anti-social behaviour, bicycle theft, theft from person, violence and sexual offences, drug-related offences, public order offences, criminal damage and arson, theft, possession of weapons, vehicle crime

7. Browning Drive, Winwick (83)

Including criminal damage and arson, theft, violence and sexual offences, drug-related offences, public order offences, possession of weapons, anti-social behaviour, burglary

8. Brighton Street, Whitecross (80)

Including bicycle theft, theft, public order offences, violence and sexual offences, criminal damage and arson, drug-related offences, vehicle crime

9. Longford Street, Orford (76)

Including public order offences, shoplifting, burglary, theft, violence and sexual offences, criminal damage and arson, robbery, bicycle theft, drug-related offences, vehicle crime, anti-social behaviour

10. Westminster Place, town centre (73)

Including anti-social behaviour, drug-related offences, public order offences, violence and sexual offences, theft, shoplifting, possession of weapons, criminal damage and arson, vehicle crime, burglary, bicycle theft

How accurate is the data?

But doubts have been raised over the accuracy of the figures.

The Home Office, which runs the police.uk website, states that not all crimes listed under a particular street were necessarily committed on that road.

Instead, the website creates ‘snap points’ which can mean reported offences from nearby areas can be listed on a different street.

And analysis of the figures for Warrington seems to highlight some inconsistencies.

Browning Drive and Fitzwalter Road appear to be quiet residential streets.

Fitzwalter Road for example had 90 reports of violence and sexual assaults in March 2018 alone - with only eight other crimes reported in the rest of the year.

READ > Murder of Shafilea Ahmed to be featured in new documentary

Similarly, crimes from surrounding areas could have also been pinpointed to Poplars Avenue, Brighton Street and Longford Street.

Despite featuring in the top 10, many residents may never have heard of Patten Lane and Westminster Place.

READ > The worst roads in Warrington for bad parking

Patten Lane is the alleyway linking Bridge Street and Barbauld Street, between Cash Generator and the former JJB store, while Westminster Place is the space next to the former NatWest bank off Winwick Street.

And Midland Way has several record instances of shoplifting - despite having no shops.

Paul Woods, head of planning and performance at Cheshire Police, said: “Police.uk, also known as Crime Mapper, is a national website that allows members of the public to see crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour that have taken place in their communities.

“However to ensure the privacy of individuals, incidents of crime or anti-social behaviour are mapped to a point on or near the street where it happened, rather than the actual location itself.

“This is referred to as a safe location.

“On some occasions this means that incidents will be tagged to a nearby street, not the street where the offence occurred.”

Chief inspector Simon Meegan, who is in charge of policing in Warrington, added: “Whilst the data doesn’t accurately show which streets are the most affected, it does highlight which areas in the town are more affected by crime than others.

“It is important to note that many of the streets listed are near to local landmarks such as shopping centres or are in the town centre and near to late-night establishments such as bars, clubs and restaurants - so these locations will traditionally be linked to a higher proportion of reported incidents.

“Wherever the location, I want to reassure anyone who lives, work or visits the town that when we get a report of a crime we take it seriously and will do everything we can to investigate what has happened, provide support to victims and bring offenders to justice.”

Retail crime hotspots

Many other crimes listed on the police.uk website are also grouped under categories such as supermarkets, shopping areas and petrol stations.

In 2018, the top areas for such figures in Warrington were:

Supermarket (810 crimes)

Shopping area (583)

Petrol station (466)

Parking area (324)

Sports/recreation area (286)

Pedestrian subway (141)

Motorway service area (122)

Police station (91)

Prison (90)

Park/open space (76)