Crap Towns / Lancashire / Adlington
Adlington
39/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 39. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
See the raceThe public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.
Letters from the locals
Got something to say about Adlington? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Adlington? Nah, mate.
A canal, a pub and a bridge that'll have your wing mirror off.
Adlington, Aggy if you live there. Nice canal, hardly any crime, barely any vandalism and 11 pubs, which per head is two and a half times the typical town. All very pleasant until you meet the bridge on Railway Road, built for a horse and cart, with every van in Lancashire trying to get under it.
It rains on 170 days a year, and the water company lets sewage out for more than three and a half times as long as in the typical town. The canal looks better on the postcard.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Adlington's 91 for rain means it's crapper than 91% of towns.
- Rain91/100170 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills82/100977 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour59/10016.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution49/1008.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions45/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband34/1005.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.9% across the Chorley council area
- Fly-tipping28/1007.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Chorley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires24/1003.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene23/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 44 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson6/1003.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | Barnoldswick | 63 |
| 28 | Poulton-le-Fylde | 61 |
| 29 | Ormskirk | 51 |
| 30 | Thornton | 48 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.– | Adlington | 39 |
| 31 | Lytham St Anne's | 39 |
| 32 | Euxton | 35 |
| 33 | Penwortham | 34 |
| 34 | Longton | 25 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Adlington by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 40.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 47% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 14 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 15.9 per 10,000 people, 14.5x the typical town's 1.1
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 11 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 1 vape shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.34pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 15.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space About the same: About the same as the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,397 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Chorley council
- £2,430 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £38 more than the English average
- 26% of Lancashire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.6x England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Adlington against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.
- ?Fly-tippingper 1,000, council area?
- ?Anti-social behaviourper 1,000 people?
- ?Serious road crashesper 10,000 people?
- ?Sewage spillshours per 10,000 people?
- ?Food hygienerated poor?
- ?Criminal damageper 1,000 people?
- ?Dirty airµg/m³?
- ?No gigabitof premises can't get it?
- ?Deliberate firesper 10,000 people?
- ?Raindays a year?
Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.