Crap Towns / Clwyd / Denbigh
Denbigh
67/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 67. 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
Castle at the top. Shite on the way up.
There's a castle at the top of the hill. Empty shops and vape shops on the way up.
Denbigh has a hilltop castle, medieval walls and a plum festival. Walk up through town to see them and you pass empty shops, vape shops and buildings left to rot. Kids hang about making a nuisance of themselves, and the lanes outside town are where everyone dumps their old fridges.
Halifax and HSBC have both gone, and the charity shops have moved in at over five times the typical town's per head. There are over four times its hairdressers and three times its pubs, so Denbigh's well groomed and half cut. Ruthin thinks it's better. It might be right.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Denbigh's 85 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 85% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour85/10023.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping82/10019.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Denbighshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson77/1009.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain67/100140 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills60/100409 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions56/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Broadband45/1002.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 18.2% across the Denbighshire council area
- Food hygiene8/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 87 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution4/1002.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rhyl | 94 |
| 2 | Llandudno | 87 |
| 3 | Colwyn Bay | 78 |
| 4 | Prestatyn | 71 |
| – | Denbigh | 67 |
| 5 | Wrexham | 66 |
| 6 | Flint | 63 |
| 7 | Rhosllannerchrugog | 54 |
| 8 | Connah's Quay | 52 |
Denbigh by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 90.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 18% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 9 reports of broken street lights on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 11.1 per 10,000 people, 15.9x the typical town's 0.7
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 16 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 11) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 24.8 per 100,000 people, 7.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.09am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 7% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,386 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 10% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Denbighshire council
Have a crap-off
Denbigh 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.