Crap Towns / Berkshire / Bracknell
Bracknell
7/100Crap Score
919th crappest of 984 towns, and 7th in Berkshire. 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
Take the third exit. Then cry.
A new town made of roundabouts, with a shopping centre that could be anywhere.
Ever been to Bracknell? It's roundabouts. That's what it is. Roundabouts and a shopping centre they rebuilt to look like every other shopping centre in Britain. Try walking anywhere and you end up in an underpass. Crime's low, fair play. You can't nick a car if you can't get off the roundabout.
Away from the roundabouts it's horribly well kept. There's 1 charity shop in the whole town, 10 public pools and nearly four times the typical town's park per person. The worst thing going is the takeaways, with nearly twice the typical town's share rated 0 to 2. And you still have to tell people you live in Bracknell.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bracknell's 74 for air pollution means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Air pollution74/1009.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour53/10010.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson36/1006.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires32/100
- Sewage spills22/10050.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene22/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 218 food businesses with a rating
- Rain18/100117 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions18/1001.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping10/1004.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bracknell Forest council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband2/1001.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 2.8% across the Bracknell Forest council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Newbury | 37 |
| 4 | Ascot | 22 |
| 5 | Windsor | 21 |
| 6 | Thatcham | 17 |
| 7 | Bracknell | 7 |
| 8 | Maidenhead | 6 |
| 9 | Wokingham | 5 |
| 10 | Caversham | 3 |
| 11 | Crowthorne | 2 |
Bracknell by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 73.6 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
- 159 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 20.2 per 10,000 people, 5.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 19 pubs, 6 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 5 bookmakers, 7 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 7.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 27) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 3.8 per 100,000 people, 12% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 21 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.7 per 10,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 1.6
- 10 public swimming pools open Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.38am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 1.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 88% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,627 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 6% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Bracknell Forest council
- £2,265 Band D council tax (2026-27) Better: £127 less than the English average
- 16% of Bracknell Forest council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) About the same: About the same as England's 16%
- 10 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Bracknell 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.