Crap Towns / Bedfordshire / Bedford
Bedford
61/100Crap Score
388th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Bedfordshire. 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 Bedford? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Don't leave the embankment
The embankment's lovely. Walk into town and it's Deadford.
Ever been to Bedford? River's nice. Proper nice, with the embankment, the rowing and the River Festival. Then you walk into town and it's empty shops. Locals call it Deadford. Hard to argue.
4 public pools have shut for good since 2010, and the ones left get moaned about. There are 50 pubs and 1 Greggs. Leave a bike by the river and it's somebody else's by teatime. The crime's well up on the typical town's, the yobs are busier too, and the river carries on looking lovely like none of it's happening.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bedford's 75 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 75% of towns.
- Serious road collisions75/1003.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution71/1009.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour71/10018.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband66/1008.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.6% across the Bedford council area
- Food hygiene61/1002.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 551 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson60/1007.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping44/10010.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bedford council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires43/1005.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills20/10042.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain4/100110 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | 66 |
| 2 | Bedford | 61 |
| 3 | Houghton Regis | 60 |
| 4 | Dunstable | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.5 | Kempston | 27 |
| 6 | Sandy | 17 |
| 7 | Leighton Buzzard | 13 |
| 8 | Stotfold | 10 |
| 9 | Flitwick | 4 |
| 10 | Biggleswade | 2 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Bedford by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 106 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 39% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 16 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.6 per 10,000 people, 53% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 50 pubs, 65 hairdressers, 16 charity shops, 13 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 9 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 85) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 cash machine closure assessed by LINK
- 12 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 9 public swimming pools open; 4 closed for good since 2010 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.03am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 8.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 47% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,569 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Bedford council
Have a crap-off
Bedford 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.