Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Ashton-in-Makerfield
Ashton-in-Makerfield
51/100Crap Score
482nd crappest of 984 towns, and 56th in Greater Manchester. 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
Ash Vegas. Bookies and rain.
Old pit heaps called the Wigan Alps, bookies for casinos and a town that calls itself Ash Vegas.
Ashton made hinges, locks and files and dug coal, and the old spoil heaps are now the Three Sisters, which some people call the Wigan Alps with a straight face. Locals call the town Ash Vegas. The casino is the bookies.
There are 33 hairdressers, nearly three times the typical town's rate, and one public toilet. Everyone's hair looks lovely and nobody can find a loo. The kitchens are worse. The share of food places rated 0 to 2 for hygiene is three times the typical town's, and the takeaways are just as bad. A library's gone too.
It chucks it down on 163 days a year. Haydock races are up the road, for anyone who fancies losing money outdoors.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ashton-in-Makerfield's 92 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Food hygiene92/1007.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 162 food businesses with a rating
- Rain87/100163 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson76/1009.2 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Air pollution68/10011.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour66/10017.5 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Deliberate fires56/1006.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping35/1008.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wigan council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills27/10079.9 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions15/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband5/1001.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.5% across the Wigan council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 52 | Reddish | 60 |
| 53 | Stretford | 58 |
| 54 | Orrell | 56 |
| 55 | Stockport | 56 |
| 56 | Ashton-in-Makerfield | 51 |
| 57 | Hazel Grove | 50 |
| 58 | Cheadle | 50 |
| 59 | Standish | 49 |
| 60 | Hale | 43 |
Ashton-in-Makerfield by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 89.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (July 2023 to June 2026) Worse: 17% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 5 reports of broken street lights on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 2.7x the typical town's 0.7
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 14 pubs, 33 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 4 bookmakers, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 12.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 25) Worse: 3x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 3.8 per 100,000 people, 12% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Garswood Library (2024)
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 75% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.57am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 5.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 65% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,449 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 5% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Wigan council
Have a crap-off
Ashton-in-Makerfield 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.