Lydney is less safe than the district around it, and the gap is wide enough to factor in. Recorded crime runs about a quarter above the Forest of Dean average. Violence and anti-social behaviour make up a bigger share of it than they do nationally. The county force charges fewer suspects than nearly any other force. It is a market town with more trouble than its neighbours, and nowhere near a no-go area.
Police figures for June 2025 to May 2026 put recorded crime in Lydney at 54 per 1,000 residents, about 27% above the Forest of Dean average. That is 610 recorded crimes over the year. The published rate is calculated on the statistical areas the police use, so it shouldn't be re-checked against the town's own head count.
For comparison, the Forest of Dean as a whole recorded about 43 crimes per 1,000 residents over the same year, against 54 in Lydney. Most of the district is villages and forest, and Lydney is one of the places in it with a town centre. Moving in from one of the surrounding villages, you'll notice the change.
The town packs about 3,170 people into each square kilometre on average. Unemployment is about 3% and about 2% of households are overcrowded. That describes an ordinary small town with most people in work and room to live in. None of those figures explains the crime rate, and treating any of them as the cause would be guesswork.
Violence and sexual offences make up 43% of Lydney's recorded crime, against 35% across England and Wales. The category is wide. It includes common assault where nobody is hurt, and it is the biggest category almost everywhere, but Lydney's share is still higher. Anti-social behaviour is 23%, against 16% nationally. Public order and criminal damage and arson are each about 7%, in line with the national shares. Other theft is 4% against 7% nationally, so Lydney's crime leans towards trouble between people and away from things going missing. The police crime map for the street you are looking at, and the streets around it, will tell you more than the town average.
Once a crime is reported, Gloucestershire Constabulary charges a suspect in about 9% of cases, against about 12% nationally. That ranks it 39th of 42 forces in England and Wales. About 33% of its cases close with no suspect identified. These are force-wide figures for the whole county over the same year. They say what happens after a crime is reported, which is a separate question from how much crime there is. In Gloucestershire, the odds of a reported crime ending in a charge are low.
Safety is Lydney's weak point. Crime runs well above its own district's rate and the county force charges suspects less often than almost any other, so a buyer who weighs where in the town to live will feel the difference more than one who just looks at the house.