The streets in Warrington with the highest number of crimes

Police.uk figures showed that, for the second year in a row, Friars Gate was the town’s biggest hotspot for criminals.

Nearly one incident was reported per day on the short stretch of road in the town centre between Bridge Street and Barbauld Street, with a total of 285 over the 12 month-period.

Bridge Street itself had a crime report close to every other day, coming in second with 174 incidents.

Winwick Road came in third, with 137 incidents in 2019 placing the A49 as a new entry in the top 10.

Westminster Place and Patten Lane were the other streets in the town centre which had among the 10 highest levels of crime in Warrington, featuring in sixth and seventh respectively.

Browning Drive in Winwick had the most crimes for a residential street in the town, coming in at fourth overall with a total of 122 incidents.

It was closely followed by Valiant Close in Fearnhead with 117, while the top 10 was rounded of with a trio of streets in Orford – Longford Street, Hallfields Road and Poplars Avenue.

The 10 streets in Warrington with the highest number of crimes reported in 2019, according to police.uk:

1. Friars Gate, town centre 285

2. Bridge Street, town centre 174

3. Winwick Road 137

4. Browning Drive, Winwick 122

5. Valiant Close, Fearnhead 117

6. Westminster Place, town centre 113

7. Patten Lane, town centre 112

8. Longford Street, Orford 106

9. Hallfields Road, Orford 86

10. Poplars Avenue, Orford 82

How accurate are the figures?

The accuracy of the figures is unclear though, with the Home Office – which runs the police.uk website – stating that not all crimes listed under a street were necessarily committed on that actual road.

Instead, it creates ‘snap points’, meaning that offences reported in the nearby area can be listed on a different street.

Several of the roads listed in the top 10 do appear to be quiet residential streets, while Patten Lane and Westminster Place are small alleyways in the town centre.

Chief inspector Simon Meegan, from Warrington Local Policing Unit, said: “The majority of streets listed are near busy shopping centres or around the town centre and close to bars, clubs and restaurants.

“These types of areas tend to receive a higher proportion of reported incidents than others.

“The data itself doesn’t accurately show which streets are the most affected, it does however highlight which areas in the town are more affected by crime than others.

“Regardless of the location, I want to reassure anyone who lives, works or visits the town that wherever there is a report of a crime we take it seriously and will do everything we can to investigate what has happened as well provide support to victims and find those responsible.”

Crimes at train stations

Warrington Bank Quay had the highest number of crimes of any of the town’s stations with 35, closely followed by Warrington Central’s 30 incidents.

Birchwood Station had a high level of crimes with 17, while only a small number were reported at Sankey for Penketh, Glazebrook and Padgate.

No crimes were listed for the new Warrington West Station, which only opened in December.

Crimes per train station in Warrington for 2019:

Birchwood Station 17

Glazebrook Station 2

Padgate Station 1

Sankey for Penketh Station 3

Warrington Bank Quay 35

Warrington Central 30

Retail areas a hotspot for crime

The police.uk website also groups some crimes under categories such as shopping centres, parks and nightclubs.

Such areas listed in Warrington for 2019 were:

Airfield 55

Bus/coach station 38

Further/higher educational building 110

Hospital 99

Motorway service area 124

Nightclub 48

Park/open space 89

Parking area 311

Pedestrian subway 223

Petrol station 472

Police station 116

Prison 129

Shopping area 600

Sports/recreation area 334

Theatre/concert hall 10

Theme/adventure park 26