Crap Towns / Lancashire / Blackpool
Blackpool
92/100Crap Score
People from here are Sandgrown'uns.
77th crappest of 984 towns, and 17th in Lancashire. 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 Blackpool? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
What did you expect, Monaco?
The Tower, the lights and someone kicking off on the prom at teatime.
Blackpool. Tower, trams and the Illuminations, the same lights as last year and the year before. The prom's fine if you squint. Go one street back and it's a different place.
Anti-social behaviour runs at nearly four times the typical town's rate. Crime overall is double the typical town's, and there are three times as many serious crashes. The council records three times the typical council's fly-tipping, most of it down the back alleys.
Then there's the sea. Blackpool North's bathing water was rated Poor. A seaside resort, and its sea is rated Poor. Preston call them Donkey Lashers. Blackpool call Preston worse. Both right. The chips are good.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Blackpool's 99 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour99/10053.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions99/1007.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson94/10013.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping94/10035.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Blackpool council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain74/100150 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires69/1009.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband39/1006.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.4% across the Blackpool council area
- Food hygiene36/1002.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,689 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills23/10054.5 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution19/1006.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 13 | Morecambe | 97 |
| 14 | Haslingden | 96 |
| 15 | Great Harwood | 96 |
| 16 | Oswaldtwistle | 95 |
| 17 | Blackpool | 92 |
| 18 | Fleetwood | 91 |
| 19 | Skelmersdale | 85 |
| 20 | Fulwood | 82 |
| 21 | Chorley | 81 |
Blackpool by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 149 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 76.2
- 67 reports of broken street lights on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.5 per 10,000 people, 6.4x the typical town's 0.7
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2018
- 0 of 6 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025; 1 rated Poor
What's left on the high street
- 102 pubs, 64 hairdressers, 19 charity shops, 21 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 14 banks, 8 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (5 of 291) Better: 58% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 2.0 per 100,000 people, 41% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 27 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 13% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 9 public swimming pools open; 3 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 4 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.33am 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%
- 32.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.1x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,567 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Blackpool council
Have a crap-off
Blackpool 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.