Crap Towns / Middlesbrough / Deliberate fires

How many fires get started on purpose in Middlesbrough?

There were 72.4 deliberate fires per 10,000 people a year in Middlesbrough from April 2023 to March 2026, 12.7 times the typical town's 5.7. The most common were bins and rubbish set on fire, at 51.2. In 2025/26 it was 84.1, up from 62.6 in 2023/24.

**Over time**
Period	Here	Typical town
2023/24	62.6	5.2
2024/25	70.6	5.4
2025/26	84.1	6.4

**What was set alight**
Fire	Here	Typical town
Bins and rubbish set on fire	51.2	1.9
Grass, woods and crops set on fire	16.3	1.7
Other outdoor fires	4.9	1.5

**Nearby towns**
Town	Distance	Fires per 10,000 people a year
Eston	4.3 km	161
Redcar	10.9 km	73.6
Middlesbrough	–	72.4
Stockton-on-Tees	7.7 km	54.4
Thornaby-on-Tees	5.0 km	52.0
Billingham	6.6 km	47.9
Guisborough	10.4 km	35.8
Marske-by-the-Sea	13.2 km	31.3
Ingleby Barwick	7.5 km	10.0
Yarm	10.2 km	6.8
Egglescliffe	9.6 km	5.0
The typical town	–	5.7