The 10 streets in Warrington with highest reported crimes

Cheshire Police’s crime statistics listed on police.uk showed that Browning Drive in Winwick had the highest number of incidents during 2020.

A total of 134 crimes were recorded on this road during the year, more than one for every three days.

This was followed by Winwick Road, with 127 incidents having been reported on the A49.

The top five was rounded off by Greenings Court on Carrington Park, Orchard Street in Fairfield and Poplars Avenue in Orford.

Cavendish Close in Old Hall, Moran Drive in Chapelford, Hallfield Roads and O’Leary Street in Orford and St Anthony Place in Winwick also made the top 10.

In previous years, this list has been dominated by streets in the town centre.

But in 2020, no roads in the heart of Warrington were featured in the top 10 – perhaps attributable to less residents visiting the area due to Covid-19 measures.

The 10 streets in Warrington with the highest number of crimes reported in 2020, according to police.uk:

1. Browning Drive, Winwick – 134

2. Winwick Road – 127

3. Greenings Court, Carrington Park – 107

4. Orchard Street, Fairfield 98

5. Poplars Avenue, Orford – 97

6. Cavendish Close, Old Hall – 87

7. Moran Drive, Chapelford – 85

8. Hallfields Road, Orford – 84

9. O'Leary Street, Orford – 79

10. St Anthony Place, Winwick – 74

How accurate is the data?

Some of the entries in the top 10 may come as a surprise.

At the very head of the list, Browning Drive is situated on the well-heeled Winwick Park estate where house prices have been known to reach £500,000.

On the other side of the A49, St Anthony Place is a quiet cul-de-sac made up of less than a dozen homes.

Just how accurate the figures are is a grey area, 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, the system creates ‘snap points’, meaning that offences reported in the nearby area can be listed on a different street.

Cheshire Police says that Browning Drive and St Anthony Place are two examples of this.

Chief inspector Neil Drum said: “While these figures may sound alarming, it’s important that they are put into context.

“For example, many of the streets listed are near busy shopping centres, medical facilities or around the town centre.

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

“Our beat management teams closely monitor repeat demand, and whenever a location is highlighted as an area of concern they will always undertake problem solving work to address this.

“It’s also important to note that the data itself doesn’t accurately show which streets are the most affected by crimes.

“It merely highlights which areas in the town are more affected by crime than others.

“For example, while Browning Drive in Winwick is highlighted as having 134 incidents in 2020 that does not mean they all occurred on that specific street.

“Browning Drive is simply the name of the snappoint name used by Crimemapper to highlight incidents in the wider Winwick area.

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

Fall in crime amid lockdown measures

The police.uk website also groups some crimes by locations they were committed in, including schools and nightclubs.

In nearly all of these areas, the number of reported incidents fell.

But the three that saw a rise – parks, sporting facilities and supermarkets – are places were residents are likely to have spent more time during the coronavirus pandemic.

Such areas listed in Warrington for 2020 were (2019 figures listed in brackets):

• Airport/airfield – 34 (55)

• Bus/coach Station – 23 (38)

• Further/higher educational building – 93 (110)

• Hospital – 82 (99)

• Motorway service area – 76 (124)

• Nightclub – 21 (48)

• Park/open space – 119 (89)

• Parking area – 273 (311)

• Pedestrian subway – 136 (223)

• Petrol station – 337 (472)

• Police station – 122 (472)

• Prison – 90 (129)

• Shopping area – 344 (600)

• Sports/recreation area – 445 (334)

• Supermarket – 755 (564)

• Theatre/concert hall – 9 (10)

• Theme/adventure park – 6 (26)

This general trend is echoed by data from the Office of National Statistics, which recorded a decrease of 2.3 per cent in crime levels in Cheshire between October 2019 and October 2020.

The total number of crimes reported in the county during this period fell by 2,184 – with thefts falling by 44.2 per cent and robberies and burglaries falling by 15.5 per cent and 10.5 per cent respectively.

Break-ins at business premises were 25.7 per cent lower than the previous year.

Levels of drug-related offences, arson attacks, vehicular crimes, possession of weapons, criminal damage and public order matters also decreased.

Deputy chief constable Julie Cooke said: “While it is encouraging to see that overall crime rates in Cheshire have reduced again, we know that restrictions imposed by the Government in response to the coronavirus pandemic will have played a big part in that.

“I would like to reassure Cheshire residents that we will not be resting on our laurels, and that we are committed to doing all we can to further reduce crime in the county and bring offenders to justice.

“Our officers and staff, as well as our special constabulary and other volunteers, are committed to working together with our partners in order to prevent crime, support victims and protect vulnerable people.”

Meanwhile, the force has attributed a rise in violent crime in Cheshire to a rise in domestic incidents amid lockdown measures.

DCC Cooke added: “I understand that many residents may be concerned that the number of incidents involving violence against a person has continued to rise.

“However, it’s important to note that the crimes within this category include a wide range of offences – such as harassment, stalking, malicious communications and controlling and coercive behaviour – which we have made significant progress over the past couple of years in improving how we identify and record the crimes.

“Here in Cheshire, we are leading the way and we have a dedicated integrated anti-stalking unit which helps to protect victims of stalking but also adopts a pioneering approach to managing offenders.

“We have also invested in training our officers to help them identify these type of offences and better understand how to deal with incidents of stalking and harassment.

“This helps us to better engage with victims and encourages them to have the confidence to come forward and report what they are being subjected to, knowing that we will take it seriously.

“Our officers have also been committed to carrying out a number of proactive operations over the past 12 months to target issues such as burglary and vehicle crime in a bid to reduce the number of incidents within Cheshire.”