57 anti-social behaviour reports in central Banbury in August, the most in two years, while overall crime fell 2% over the year. Bicester rose 12%.
Police logged 57 reports of anti-social behaviour within a mile of central Banbury in August 2026. That is the highest monthly figure in the two years of data we checked, and double the 28 recorded in September 2025.
Shoplifting reports also stayed high, at 52 for the second month running. But the overall picture is steadier than a single month suggests. Across the 12 months to August, total recorded crime in central Banbury fell by 2%.
The figures are the street-level data Thames Valley Police supplies to police.uk, which we downloaded through the data.police.uk API on 4 October. August 2026 is the latest month published.
The month in numbers
The 358 crimes recorded in August broke down like this:
| Type of crime | August 2026 |
|---|---|
| Violence and sexual offences | 117 |
| Anti-social behaviour | 57 |
| Shoplifting | 52 |
| Public order | 32 |
| Other theft | 25 |
| Criminal damage and arson | 18 |
| Drugs | 13 |
| Vehicle crime | 10 |
| Burglary | 8 |
| Robbery | 8 |
| Other types (four categories) | 18 |
Violence and sexual offences remain the largest category, as they are in most town centres. The 117 August reports were down from 147 in July and 161 in August 2025.
A year of change, category by category
One month is a noisy measure, so we compared the full 12 months to August 2026 with the 12 months before that. Both periods use the same one-mile circle around Banbury town centre.
| Type of crime | Sep 2024 to Aug 2025 | Sep 2025 to Aug 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All crime | 4,029 | 3,947 | down 2% |
| Violence and sexual offences | 1,638 | 1,549 | down 5% |
| Shoplifting | 473 | 463 | down 2% |
| Anti-social behaviour | 373 | 435 | up 17% |
| Public order | 436 | 399 | down 8% |
| Criminal damage and arson | 328 | 293 | down 11% |
| Other theft | 170 | 221 | up 30% |
| Burglary | 89 | 116 | up 30% |
| Vehicle crime | 150 | 103 | down 31% |
| Robbery | 33 | 55 | up 67% |
| Bicycle theft | 35 | 49 | up 40% |
The rises are in anti-social behaviour, theft, burglary and robbery. Robbery numbers are small, so a few incidents move the percentage a long way. Still, 55 robberies in a year is a clear step up from 33.
Vehicle crime, criminal damage and public order offences all fell.
Shoplifting: high this summer, flat over the year
Shoplifting is where one month can mislead most. August’s 52 reports are almost double the 28 recorded in August 2025. Compare whole years, though, and the total barely moved: 463 against 473.
What changed is the timing. Summer 2025 was unusually quiet, with 21 reports in June and 19 in July. Summer 2026 was busy, with 36 in June and 52 in both July and August. The 2024 to 2025 year had its peak in the run-up to Christmas, with 65 reports in December 2024.
Of the 52 August shoplifting reports, police.uk lists 33 as still under investigation. The other 19 are closed with no suspect identified.
Bicester: up 12% in a year
We ran the same check for a one-mile circle around Bicester town centre. The circle takes in Bicester Village, about a kilometre south-east of Sheep Street.
Bicester’s recorded crime rose from 2,753 to 3,089 over the same two periods, up 12%. The main movements were:
- shoplifting up 16%, from 772 to 898
- violence and sexual offences up 12%, from 902 to 1,010
- anti-social behaviour up 28%, from 176 to 225
- robbery up from 22 to 45
Bicester recorded 97 shoplifting reports in August 2026, its second-highest month in two years. Only December 2025, with 108, was higher. Shoplifting is the single largest category in Bicester, ahead of violent crime, which is the reverse of Banbury.
How to read these figures
- The counts are crimes reported to and recorded by police, not every crime committed. A change can reflect more reporting, or a recording change, as well as more offending.
- Police.uk places each crime at an anonymised map point near where it happened, so a one-mile circle is approximate at its edges.
- Totals for a month can be revised when police update their records, so a later download may differ slightly.
- Anti-social behaviour is recorded as an incident type, not a crime, but police.uk counts it alongside crime.
What it means for you
- If you see anti-social behaviour, report it. Thames Valley Police takes non-emergency reports online or on 101. Use 999 if someone is in danger or a crime is happening now.
- Retailers can report shoplifting online too. The figures above only count what reaches police, so unreported thefts are invisible in them.
- Your street’s own figures are on police.uk: enter a postcode to see the local map and your neighbourhood team.
We will update these figures each month as police.uk publishes them.
Have your say