Crap Towns / Hertfordshire / Cheshunt
Cheshunt
21/100Crap Score
Known as Crimtown.
779th crappest of 984 towns, and 15th in Hertfordshire. 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 Cheshunt? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Locals have a ruder name for it.
Fast trains to London. Locals will tell you that's the best thing about it.
Cheshunt used to be roses and Tesco's head office. Tesco fucked off. Now the high street's going downhill, there's nothing to do, and the flats by the station have been half-built for ages, like the regeneration everyone was promised. Houses cost a fortune for somewhere this dull.
The fast train to London is the only thing that works. On a weeknight the last bus pulls out at 10.52pm and the Sunday service is about a quarter of the typical town's. There are 2 public toilets for the whole place and 1 charity shop, so nobody's hanging about. The anti-social lot are, mind, at a third more than the typical town.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Cheshunt's 86 for air pollution means it's crapper than 86% of towns.
- Air pollution86/10011.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour72/10018.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping65/10013.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Broxbourne council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband31/1004.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 7.9% across the Broxbourne council area
- Deliberate fires30/1004.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain22/100118 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions20/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson20/1004.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene9/1000.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 155 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Hitchin | 35 |
| 12 | Letchworth | 28 |
| 13 | Hoddesdon | 28 |
| 14 | Berkhamsted | 22 |
| 15 | Cheshunt | 21 |
| 16 | Bishop's Stortford | 19 |
| 17 | Tring | 19 |
| 18 | Royston | 18 |
| 19 | St Albans | 18 |
Cheshunt by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 71.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 6% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 29 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.6 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 5 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 1 vape shop, 3 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 29) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 2.3 per 100,000 people, 32% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 69% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.52pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 20.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 34% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,615 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 5% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Broxbourne council
- £2,306 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £86 less than the English average
- 18% of Hertfordshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Cheshunt 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.