Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Denton
Denton
89/100Crap Score
109th crappest of 984 towns, and 19th in Greater Manchester. 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
Denton's got a station. Barely.
The hat works have gone, and the trains hardly bother stopping at the station.
Denton made hats for the whole country once, and there's a statue outside the town hall tipping one at you to prove it. The hat works have gone. The high street's barbers and takeaways now, and the station's a ghost. Trains hardly ever stop.
Nitrogen dioxide runs at 1.7 times the typical town's level, the storm overflows spill for more than six times as long, and the local yobs set a fire nearly three times as often. Food businesses are more than twice as likely as the typical town's to be given 0 to 2 for hygiene, so some of the kitchens would turn your stomach. It's got a beaver on its coat of arms, and not much else to look pleased about.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Denton's 93 for air pollution means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Air pollution93/10013.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills92/1001,809 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene84/1005.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 191 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires84/10015.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain80/100156 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping70/10015.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Tameside council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson64/1008.1 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Serious road collisions56/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour51/10015.5 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Broadband15/1002.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.9% across the Tameside council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Swinton | 93 |
| 16 | Ashton-under-Lyne | 91 |
| 17 | Middleton | 91 |
| 18 | Worsley | 90 |
| 19 | Denton | 89 |
| 20 | Stalybridge | 89 |
| 21 | Mossley | 89 |
| 22 | Leigh | 88 |
| 23 | Uppermill | 87 |
Denton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 92.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (July 2023 to June 2026) Worse: 22% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 135 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 37.5 per 10,000 people, 34.1x the typical town's 1.1
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 22 pubs, 25 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 2 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 51) Worse: 48% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 2.8 per 100,000 people, 18% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Haughton Green (2012)
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 3 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later 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%
- 35.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.3x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,348 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 12% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Tameside council
Have a crap-off
Denton 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.