Crap Towns / Bedfordshire / Biggleswade
Biggleswade
2/100Crap Score
Known as Biggy. Also the Wade.
961st crappest of 984 towns, and 10th 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 Biggleswade? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Biggy. Another quiet Sunday.
A market town on the Ivel with a carnival. Sunday buses are asking too much.
Biggleswade? Yeah, it's alright. Market square, the Ivel, a carnival. Hardly any crime. Locals moan there's nothing to do, and they're right, there isn't. People call it Giggles-wade. Nobody's ever laughed there.
They built one of the first farm tractors here, and nothing's moved much faster since. Midweek there's no bus after 6.34pm and Sunday's a write-off. Barclays, Halifax and Lloyds have all announced closures, and 84 homes fall short of even the legal minimum broadband. Plenty of swings, mind. Nothing to do, but plenty of swings.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Biggleswade's 54 for air pollution means it's crapper than 54% of towns.
- Air pollution54/1007.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband48/1005.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 13.3% across the Central Bedfordshire council area
- Fly-tipping40/1009.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Central Bedfordshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour27/10011.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires26/1004.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene21/1001.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 105 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson16/1004.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills14/10019.6 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain7/100112 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions4/1000.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| 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.
Biggleswade by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 55.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 28% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 385 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 175 per 10,000 people, 51.5x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 15 pubs, 13 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 4 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 18) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 13.7 per 100,000 people, 4x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 13% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 6.34pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 11.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 24% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,588 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Central Bedfordshire council
- £2,516 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £124 more than the English average
- 13% of Central Bedfordshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 19% lower than England's 16%
- 17 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Biggleswade 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.