Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Bolton upon Dearne
Bolton upon Dearne
86/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 86. 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
What's that bloody smell?
The flies get in your house and the stink gets in everything. Locals blame the waste site.
Bolton upon Dearne was built to house the miners from Goldthorpe pit. The pit's gone. The flies haven't. Locals reckon they come off the waste site at Manvers, along with the stink, and they're all over people's kitchens. It's not the flies' fault. They go where the shit is.
And it isn't just a moan. Flies have turned up in 2 of the serious pollution incidents round here. Sewage goes in the water nearby for about seven and a half times the typical town's hours, and somebody keeps setting the grass alight on top. There's 1 pub. You'd drink at home as well if you could keep the flies out of the glass.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bolton upon Dearne's 94 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Sewage spills94/1002,052 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires92/10027.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping83/10020.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Barnsley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson78/1009.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution74/1009.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene74/1008.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 24 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions65/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband63/10010.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 8.7% across the Barnsley council area
- Anti-social behaviour29/10011.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain11/100114 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Bentley | 91 |
| 9 | Wombwell | 91 |
| 10 | Doncaster | 88 |
| 11 | Hoyland | 88 |
| – | Bolton upon Dearne | 86 |
| 12 | Wath upon Dearne | 85 |
| 13 | Swallownest and Aston | 80 |
| 14 | Conisbrough | 79 |
| 15 | Royston | 78 |
Bolton upon Dearne by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 72.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 7 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 9.4 per 10,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 3.4
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 1 pub, 2 hairdressers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.36pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- Under 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: Far lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 0.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: Against the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,525 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Barnsley council
Have a crap-off
Bolton upon Dearne 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.