Crap Towns / Gwent / Blaenavon
Blaenavon
95/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 95. 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 Blaenavon? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Underground's the best bit
UNESCO reckons it's important. The vandals haven't read the plaque.
Blaenavon is a World Heritage Site, which means a coal mine you can go down and an ironworks you can look at. The broadband's heritage too. Gigabit gets to 4.1% of premises. The ironmasters would be proud.
They tried making it a book town once. Didn't take. Back in town it's pavements too narrow to pass anyone, and criminal damage at well over twice the typical town's rate and going up. Check the hygiene rating before you eat: 9.8% of food places score 0 to 2, four times the typical town's share. And good luck with the bus.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Blaenavon's 100 for broadband means it's crapper than 100% of towns.
- Broadband100/10095.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 17.3% across the Torfaen council area
- Sewage spills98/1003,226 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson98/10016.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour95/10031.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene85/1009.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 41 food businesses with a rating
- Rain81/100158 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions59/1002.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Fly-tipping44/10010.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Torfaen council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution8/1004.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tredegar | 98 |
| 2 | Newport | 97 |
| 3 | Risca | 96 |
| 4 | Ebbw Vale | 96 |
| – | Blaenavon | 95 |
| 5 | Abertillery | 95 |
| 6 | Blackwood | 92 |
| 7 | Caerphilly | 88 |
| 8 | Pontypool | 86 |
Blaenavon by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 111 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 46% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 22 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 39.0 per 10,000 people, 11.5x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 2 hairdressers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.3 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.51pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 17.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 10% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,457 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Torfaen council
Have a crap-off
Blaenavon 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.