Crap Towns / Lancashire / Burnley
Burnley
98/100Crap Score
17th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th 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 Burnley? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Burnley. Not great, is it?
Vandals, fly-tippers, shit driving and empty shops. And it rains.
Burnley's got the Clarets, Turf Moor and a sculpture on the hill that moans every time the wind blows. Fits right in. Down in town it's empty units and burglary at well over twice the typical town's rate.
Anti-social behaviour is up at 2.7 times the typical town's rate, some bright spark sets a fire four times as often, and the serious crashes are nearly double. The council records more than three times the typical council's fly-tipping. The rain turns up on 173 days a year and the sun gets 1,267 hours.
Blackburn fans call them Dingles. Burnley fans call Blackburn far worse, and they've seen the state of Blackburn's kitchens.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Burnley's 98 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour98/10037.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping96/10037.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Burnley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain95/100173 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions94/1004.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson92/10012.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires92/10023.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills64/100477 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene60/1002.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 525 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution43/1008.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband10/1002.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.0% across the Burnley council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Bacup | 99 |
| 5 | Darwen | 99 |
| 6 | Lancaster | 99 |
| 7 | Accrington | 99 |
| 8 | Burnley | 98 |
| 9 | Preston | 98 |
| 10 | Nelson | 98 |
| 11 | Rawtenstall | 97 |
| 12 | Brierfield | 97 |
Burnley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 117 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.5x the typical town's 76.2
- 7 reports of abandoned vehicles on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 About the same: 0.9 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 0.9
- 19 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 28 pubs, 7 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 4 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 11 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (6 of 113) Worse: 33% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 libraries shut for good since 2010: Briercliffe (2016) and Rosegrove (2016)
- 6 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 50% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.08am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 5.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 63% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,267 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 17% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Burnley council
Have a crap-off
Burnley 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.