A County Durham town has been branded the 'most dangerous' area of the region in newly released crime data. 

In a list of 25 North East areas, Shildon in County Durham was branded the worst for crime levels and reported crimes out of nine County Durham locations.

The data, compiled by Churchill Support Services, a company specialising in security services, pinpointed the major issues facing people across the region's landscape, including antisocial behaviour, violent crime, and shoplifting.

Within the figures, Shildon was listed as the worst with a crime rate of 182.2 per 1000 people, and 1,758 individual offences. 

Meanwhile, Easington was ranked fifth, Stanley in sixth, and Horden in eighth.

Despite Shildon being listed as the worst from the County Durham cohort, it found itself fourth in the whole of the North East - with Thornaby, Eston and Ashington named as three places with worse crime rates than Shildon.

The nine 'most dangerous locations' in County Durham

The study shows that nine areas in County Durham are considered some of the most dangerous areas in the North East due to the number of crimes per 1,000 people in the area.

Newton Aycliffe, Willington, Ferryhill, Murton, Peterlee, Horden, Stanley, Easington, and Shildon all ranked high in the top 25 most dangerous areas in the North East list.

  • Shildon (4th) - Crime rate of 182.2 Per 1000 People and 1,758 individual offences 
  • Easington (5th) - Crime rate of 181.8 Per 1000 People and 1,266 total crimes
  • Stanley (6th) - Crime rate of 180.8 Per 1000 People and 3,513 crimes in total
  • Horden (8th) - Crime rate of 178.9 Per 1000 People and 6,807 offences
  • Peterlee (9th) - Crime rate of 177.5 Per 1000 People and 3,505 total offences
  • Murton (10th) - Crime rate of 176.8 Per 1000 People and 1,281 crimes
  • Ferryhill (11th) - Crime rate of 174.2 Per 1000 People and 1,543 offences
  • Willington (18th) - Crime rate of 159.2 Per 1000 People and 905 offences
  • Newton Aycliffe (22nd) - Crime rate of 148.0 Per 1000 People and 3,814 offences

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Explanations of the crime data

Alongside the new data, Churchill Support Services has given explanation of why the crime levels are so high in a certain location. 

Here are the explanations for Shildon:

Shildon

"About halfway between Darlington and Durham, Shildon is perhaps best known for hosting the Locomotion railway museum. This is largely due to the town opening the very first railway station on the Stockton and Darlington line in 1825. Despite the draws for train enthusiasts, crime figures in the area are not nearly as appealing, with a rate of 182.2 per 1000 residents, amounting to a worrying count of 1,758 individual offences."