Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Dewsbury
Dewsbury
98/100Crap Score
24th crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in West 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
Even McDonald's left.
Lovely old buildings with nothing in them. McDonald's gave up. Says it all.
Dewsbury? Grand town hall, streets of handsome old buildings, and nothing in any of them. The market's dying, Daisy Hill keeps losing shops, and even McDonald's packed up and left the town centre. When a burger chain gives up on you, you're in real bother. Doomsbury. Spot on.
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest have all shut a branch. Both public pools have closed for good, and the town centre itself has ended up on the at-risk register. What's left to eat in is nearly three times as likely as the typical town's to get 0 to 2 from the hygiene inspectors. Batley must love it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Dewsbury's 94 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Food hygiene94/1006.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 408 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions89/1003.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires88/10018.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution86/10012.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson84/10010.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping82/10019.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Kirklees council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour79/10014.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills66/100530 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain49/100127 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband21/1004.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.8% across the Kirklees council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keighley | 99 |
| 2 | Bradford | 99 |
| 3 | Dewsbury | 98 |
| 4 | Shipley | 97 |
| 5 | Halifax | 97 |
| 6 | Heckmondwike | 95 |
| 7 | Huddersfield | 95 |
| 8 | Elland | 94 |
| 9 | Batley | 94 |
Dewsbury by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 124 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 5 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 76% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 12 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 29 pubs, 10 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 6 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (7 of 78) Worse: 2.3x the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 6.3 per 100,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Thornhill Lees Library (2016)
- 12 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 19% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.39pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 9.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 41% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,392 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Kirklees council
- £2,441 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £49 more than the English average
- 22% of Kirklees council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 38% higher than England's 16%
- 22 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Dewsbury 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.