Crap Towns / Norfolk / Attleborough
Attleborough
4/100Crap Score
Known as Aggroborough.
941st crappest of 984 towns, and 12th in Norfolk. 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 Attleborough? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Only the council kicks off.
The streets are quiet. The town council, less so.
Attleborough is quiet and tidy, and not much goes wrong on its streets. All the aggro's in the town council, which has been at each other's throats so long locals call the place Battleborough. The sign can't even decide if it's a town or a village. It used to have turkey markets. Now it's got the minutes.
Since 2016 the pollution record shows 17 serious incidents in or around the town, and the storm overflows spill for more than twice as long as the typical town's. The last incident was a stink in the air. Could've been the council meeting.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Attleborough's 91 for broadband means it's crapper than 91% of towns.
- Broadband91/10013.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 32.7% across the Breckland council area
- Sewage spills71/100637 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution48/1006.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain31/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping17/1005.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Breckland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene14/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 64 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions13/1001.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson8/1003.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires6/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour4/1006.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Thetford | 49 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
| 10 | North Walsham | 17 |
| 11 | Watton | 10 |
| 12 | Attleborough | 4 |
| 13 | Taverham and Drayton | 1 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Attleborough by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 43.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 43% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 8 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 7.1 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 17 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2021
What's left on the high street
- 3 pubs, 15 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 10) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 44% 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
- 12.20am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 3.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 77% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,606 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Breckland council
- £2,444 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £52 more than the English average
- 8% of Norfolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Attleborough 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.