Crap Towns / Mid Glamorgan / Bridgend
Bridgend
32/100Crap Score
670th crappest of 984 towns, and 11th in Mid Glamorgan. 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 Bridgend? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Where's everyone gone? The outlet.
The shoppers are all at the outlet by the motorway. The town's left with the shutters.
Bridgend's got a nice old bridge and a town centre that's mostly shutters. Ford shut, the shops followed and everyone drives to the outlet by the M4 and calls that town. The council still argues about pedestrianising streets nobody walks down. Locals call it Shit-end.
You get rain on 164 days a year, so the walk past the shutters is a wet one. The banks keep shutting branches, the nightlife went the same way as the shops, and the storm overflows keep the Ogmore topped up. Shit-end. Fair.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bridgend's 87 for rain means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Rain87/100164 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills81/100927 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping55/10010.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bridgend council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Broadband40/1006.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.9% across the Bridgend council area
- Anti-social behaviour40/10013.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson35/1006.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene30/1001.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 232 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution22/1007.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions0/1000.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Maesteg | 53 |
| 7 | Tonypandy | 52 |
| 8 | Mountain Ash | 49 |
| 9 | Tonyrefail | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.10 | Church Village | 35 |
| 11 | Bridgend | 32 |
| 12 | Pyle | 25 |
| 13 | Sarn | 10 |
| 14 | Porthcawl | 9 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Bridgend by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 79.8 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
- 56 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 10.8 per 10,000 people, 9.8x the typical town's 1.1
What's left on the high street
- 27 pubs, 25 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 9 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 33) Worse: 2.3x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 5.8 per 100,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 13% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.14am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 5% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,554 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Bridgend council
Have a crap-off
Bridgend 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.