Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Darton
Darton
49/100Crap Score
507th crappest of 984 towns, and 22nd in South Yorkshire. 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
First the floods. Then the mattresses.
The Dearne floods, the lanes get dumped on and the new houses keep coming.
Darton sits on the Dearne, and the Dearne keeps coming in the front room. New houses keep filling the gap to Mapplewell, the drains can't cope as it is, and whatever the builders don't need gets dumped in a lane. Getting out of Church Street onto Huddersfield Road takes an age.
The storm overflows nearby spill for more than twice as long as the typical town's, so it's not just rainwater coming in. Crime's low and nobody nicks much. The station takes West Yorkshire tickets, which is handy if you're leaving.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Darton's 83 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 83% of towns.
- Fly-tipping83/10020.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Barnsley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires77/10011.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills70/100612 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain55/100130 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution53/1008.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene49/1002.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 85 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions35/1002.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband30/1003.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 8.7% across the Barnsley council area
- Criminal damage and arson24/1005.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour17/1009.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Warmsworth | 70 |
| 19 | Maltby | 65 |
| 20 | Swinton | 61 |
| 21 | Scawthorpe and Cusworth | 57 |
| 22 | Darton | 49 |
| 23 | New Rossington and Rossington | 45 |
| 24 | Thorne | 45 |
| 25 | Chapeltown and High Green | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.26 | Armthorpe | 36 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Darton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 51.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 33% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 19 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 12.6 per 10,000 people, 3.7x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 18) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 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
- 11.26pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 20.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 32% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,475 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Barnsley council
Have a crap-off
Darton 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.