Crap Towns / Lancashire / Burscough
Burscough
54/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 54. 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
The drains were built for a village.
Every new estate goes on the same old drains. Every heavy shower ends up in someone's lounge.
Burscough? Floods. Every new estate makes it worse, because the drains were built for a village and it hasn't been one for years. It pisses down on 155 days a year, so the drains get plenty of chances. There's a canal, Martin Mere for anyone who wants their water on purpose, and a Roman fort nobody's ever seen.
Anti-social behaviour is running at nearly one and a half times the typical town's rate, and Chancel Way is a racetrack. The kitchens are clean, mind. Not one rated 0 to 2. Small mercies.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Burscough's 79 for rain means it's crapper than 79% of towns.
- Rain79/100155 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour77/10020.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping76/10017.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, West Lancashire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions66/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills51/100286 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband47/1004.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.4% across the West Lancashire council area
- Air pollution24/1006.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson15/1004.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires14/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene13/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 65 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Cleveleys | 64 |
| 26 | Heysham | 63 |
| 27 | Barnoldswick | 63 |
| 28 | Poulton-le-Fylde | 61 |
| – | Burscough | 54 |
| 29 | Ormskirk | 51 |
| 30 | Thornton | 48 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.31 | Lytham St Anne's | 39 |
| 32 | Euxton | 35 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Burscough by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 50.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 34% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 5 problems reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 5.7 per 10,000 people, 72% lower than the typical town's 20.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 6 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 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
- 11.23pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 8% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,470 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
West Lancashire council
Have a crap-off
Burscough 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.