Crap TownsBritain's towns, rated by the people stuck in them

Crap Towns / Burnley / Pollution incidents

How often does Burnley get polluted?

19 serious pollution incidents have been recorded in Burnley or within 1 km of it since 2016, the joint 33rd most of the 948 English towns that have had one. The most recent came in May 2026 and put building rubble and soil and clay on the land. Soil and clay turned up in 6 of them.

The incidents
WhenWhatWhereImpact
May 2026Building rubble and soil and clayOn the landSignificant
February 2026Building rubbleOn the landSignificant
February 2026Building rubble, household waste, soil and clay and tyresOn the landSignificant
March 2025Contaminated building rubble, household waste, metal wastes, specific waste material and vehicle partsOn the landSignificant
November 2023DetergentIn the waterSignificant
May 2023Building rubble, contaminated soil, electrical equipment, rocks and gravel, smoke and soil and clayOn the landSignificant
April 2023An unidentified pollutantIn the waterSignificant
January 2023An unidentified pollutantIn the waterSignificant
June 2022SmokeIn the airSignificant
April 2022Crude oilIn the waterSignificant
January 2022Soil and clayIn the waterSignificant
September 2021Metal wastes, inert material or waste and smokeIn the airSignificant
May 2021Suspended solidsIn the waterSignificant
October 2020Electrical equipment and household wasteIn the airSignificant
July 2020An unidentified pollutantIn the waterSignificant
March 2020Chemically contaminated run-off and unidentified oilOn the landSignificant
May 2018An unidentified pollutantOn the landSignificant
October 2017Commercial waste and soil and clayOn the landSignificant
April 2017Building rubble and soil and clayOn the landSignificant
Nearby towns
TownDistanceSerious incidents since 2016
Clayton-le-Moors9.9 km53
Accrington9.7 km19
Burnley–19
Bacup11.0 km13
Church11.1 km11
Colne8.3 km9
Nelson5.1 km9
Rawtenstall10.3 km8
Padiham5.1 km6
Brierfield3.4 km2
Barrowford6.7 km1