Crap Towns / Leicestershire / Ashby-de-la-Zouch
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
7/100Crap Score
917th crappest of 984 towns, and 13th in Leicestershire. 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Who do they think they are?
Ruined castle, a name like a French count, and a postcode in Leicestershire, mate.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch sounds like somewhere in the south of France. It's in Leicestershire. It's got a ruined castle, a walk-on part in Ivanhoe, and the Statutes fair parking itself on Market Street every year. Nice enough, bit full of itself. Locals call it Gashby when nobody posh is listening.
For all the airs, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest have each announced they're off since 2022, which per head is nearly six times the typical town. It's got 4 public swimming pools and 1 public toilet, so you can guess where people end up going. Midweek there's no bus after 10.06pm. Very continental.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ashby-de-la-Zouch's 55 for rain means it's crapper than 55% of towns.
- Rain55/100131 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution44/1007.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband44/1005.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 10.5% across the North West Leicestershire council area
- Criminal damage and arson39/1006.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene39/1001.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 107 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions28/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills28/10082.5 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping14/1005.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North West Leicestershire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour13/1008.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires4/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Shepshed | 13 |
| 10 | Hinckley | 11 |
| 11 | Mountsorrel | 10 |
| 12 | Earl Shilton | 9 |
| 13 | Ashby-de-la-Zouch | 7 |
| 14 | Lutterworth | 2 |
| 15 | Syston | 1 |
| 16 | Market Harborough | 1 |
| 17 | Wigston | 1 |
Ashby-de-la-Zouch by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 62.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 18% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 15 reports of graffiti and fly-posting on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026
What's left on the high street
- 10 pubs, 11 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 3 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 10.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 10) Worse: 2.5x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 19.8 per 100,000 people, 5.8x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.7 per 10,000 people, 56% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 2.6 per 10,000 people, 3.7x the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.06pm 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%
- 13.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 14% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,483 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North West Leicestershire council
- £2,418 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £26 more than the English average
- 11% of Leicestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 31% lower than England's 16%
- 2 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Ashby-de-la-Zouch 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.