Crap Towns / Merseyside / Bebington
Bebington
50/100Crap Score
496th crappest of 984 towns, and 12th in Merseyside. 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 Bebington? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Wellies on. Mount Road's under again.
The Oval was in Chariots of Fire. Nothing's happened since.
Bebington's big claim to fame is the Oval standing in for the Olympic stadium in Chariots of Fire. That was 1981. Since then Mount Road has flooded every time it rains, and it rains on 151 days a year, so that's a lot of wellies.
Three libraries have shut for good since 2010. The storm overflows spill for four times as long as the typical town's. There's one charity shop in the whole town and hardly a bank, and the evening buses run at about a quarter of the typical town's rate.
Port Sunlight next door is dead pretty. Bebington isn't. Ask anyone.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bebington's 85 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 85% of towns.
- Sewage spills85/1001,135 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain75/100151 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping73/10015.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wirral council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires65/1008.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions57/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution44/1008.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene42/1002.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 276 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson19/1004.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour15/1006.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband4/1001.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.6% across the Wirral council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Huyton with Roby | 78 |
| 9 | Newton-le-Willows | 66 |
| 10 | Haydock | 63 |
| 11 | Litherland | 59 |
| 12 | Bebington | 50 |
| 13 | Crosby | 48 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.14 | Maghull | 36 |
| 15 | Southport | 34 |
| 16 | West Kirby | 29 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Bebington by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 50.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 33% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.2 per 10,000 people, 94% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 19 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 3 bookmakers, 2 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 54) Better: 8% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 About the same: 3.5 per 100,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
- 3 libraries shut for good since 2010: Bromborough (2022), Higher Bebington (2022) and New Ferry (2022)
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.32am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 32.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.1x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,488 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Wirral council
- £2,501 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £109 more than the English average
- 11% of Wirral council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 31% lower than England's 16%
- 24 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Bebington 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.