Campaigners are warning that stalking offences are still being ‘missed’ before murders and suicides as a new interactive map shows data for each area of England and Wales
A new map reveals the areas with the highest rates of reported stalking offences – and you can check how many have happened where you live.
Last year, police recorded over 135,000 stalking offences in England and Wales, an astonishing 4,600% rise from just under 3,000 crimes 10 years ago, according to House of Commons Library figures analysed by the Lib-Dems.
Significant increases were recorded in every part of England and Wales, with some of the country’s largest forces seeing a boom in offences. The Metropolitan Police force recorded 11,798 last year, up from 647 a decade ago, while Greater Manchester Police saw a rise from 96 to 10,649 over the same period.
It comes as campaigners from the Suzy Lamplugh Trust warn during Stalking Awareness Week that offences “continue to be overlooked” amid long-standing evidence of links to murders and suicides.
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Check our interactive map
This map shows which areas have the highest numbers of stalking offences:
The 20 areas with the highest stalking crime rates per 1,000 people
- Blackpool – 7.2
- Gloucester – 5.4
- Hyndburn – 5.3
- Wakefield – 5.1
- Blaenau Gwent – 5.0
- Bradford – 4.8
- Torfaen – 4.7
- Rochdale – 4.6
- Burnley – 4.5
- Stoke-on-Trent – 4.5
- Calderdale – 4.5
- Leeds – 4.5
- Wigan – 4.4
- Oldham – 4.4
- Tameside – 4.3
- Middlesbrough – 4.3
- Salford – 4.2
- Blackburn with Darwen – 4.2
- Preston – 4.1
- Kirklees – 4.0
Blackpool has highest rate in England and Wales
But Blackpool has the highest crime rate for stalking offences. Last year, there were 1,016 crimes of stalking recorded in the seaside town. That’s a rate of 7.2 crimes for every 1,000 people in Blackpool.
Crime rates, calculated by dividing the number of crimes by the size of the population, are generally considered the fairest way to compare offending across areas of different sizes.
After Blackpool, Gloucester has the highest stalking rate (5.4 per 1,000 residents), followed by Hyndburn in Lancashire (5.3), Wakefield in West Yorkshire (5.1), and Blaenau Gwent in Wales (5.0).
The Mirror has contacted Lancashire Police for comment.
Three-quarters of victims are women
Both men and women are victims of stalking, but nearly three-quarters (73%) of stalking victims are women, according to the latest Government figures.
More than 90% of victims experience psychological impacts following stalking behaviour, according to research.
And as our map reveals, stalking is much more common in some parts of the country than others.
In the year ending September 2025, there were 3,677 crimes of stalking recorded in Leeds, more than anywhere else in England and Wales, 3,382 in Birmingham, 2,633 in Bradford, and 2,247 in Manchester.
Stalking behaviour ‘often missed’ before murders and suicides
It comes as a new report by the Suzy Lamplugh Trust warns that stalking behaviour is often missed in the lead-up to homicides and suicides.
The Trust, which was founded after the disappearance of estate agent Suzy Lamplugh, who went missing after meeting a client in 1986, says identifying this disturbing pattern of behaviour earlier could save lives.
Research by Professor Jane Monckton Smith OBE demonstrates how stalking can form part of a “homicide timeline” where escalation follows predictable patterns. In one study of more than 350 cases of criminal femicides, her research highlighted that stalking behaviours were present in 94% of the cases.
The Suzy Lamplugh Trust is now calling on the government to establish a stalking related death review process to learn lessons from stalking related homicides and suicides.
The Trust previously highlighted how many police forces in England and Wales had failed to identify, investigate, and protect victims of stalking, in a “super-complaint” it made against the police in 2022.
Dr Monckton-Smith, Professor of Public Protection at the University of Gloucestershire, said: “Over the years of examining cases, the pattern has become increasingly clear that stalking is not an isolated behaviour but part of a predictable escalation towards serious harm, suicide and homicide. These warning signs are still too often ignored or missed entirely.
“Every missed opportunity for early intervention and identification of risks represents preventable harm and loss of life.”
Emma Lingley-Clark, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust, said: “Today, we remember those whose lives have been lost to stalking – and call for urgent, systemic change to ensure it is prioritised in line with the risk it poses. Stalking behaviours must be consistently recorded wherever they have contributed to homicide or suicide, so we can fully recognise their role in the escalation to fatal harm.
“We know stalking can escalate into fatal fixation, yet across public bodies and agencies it continues to be dangerously underestimated – rather than treated with the urgency it demands.”
