Crap Towns / Lincolnshire / Gainsborough
Gainsborough
87/100Crap Score
132nd crappest of 984 towns, and 3rd in Lincolnshire. 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
Capital of England, once. Look at it.
It claims it was once the capital of England. Now the market's shrinking and the kids are bored.
Gainsborough says it was once the capital of England. Long time ago, mate. There's a lovely Old Hall and the Trent. The market keeps shrinking, the teenagers have nothing to do and a night out means going somewhere else, which is tricky when the buses stop at 7.48pm and there's none at all on a Sunday.
So the bored stay put and set fire to the bins. The firebugs are busy, at six times the typical town's rate, mostly bins and rubbish. Anti-social behaviour and criminal damage are both nearly three times the typical town's, and crime overall is close to double. Barclays, Halifax and HSBC have all announced they're off. And nobody understands the roundabout.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Gainsborough's 99 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson99/10019.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour98/10038.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires95/10034.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband81/1005.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 31.9% across the West Lindsey council area
- Serious road collisions70/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping68/10014.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, West Lindsey council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution46/1005.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills45/100230 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene35/1001.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 116 food businesses with a rating
- Rain11/100114 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 94 |
| 2 | Grimsby | 88 |
| 3 | Gainsborough | 87 |
| 4 | Lincoln | 81 |
| 5 | Skegness | 80 |
| 6 | Scunthorpe | 73 |
| 7 | Louth | 69 |
| 8 | Cleethorpes | 68 |
| 9 | Spalding | 64 |
Gainsborough by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 148 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 76.2
- 288 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 131 per 10,000 people, 38.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 6 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 4 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 23) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 13.7 per 100,000 people, 4x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.2 per 10,000 people, 2x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 7.48pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 8.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 48% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,514 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
West Lindsey council
- £2,354 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £38 less than the English average
- 21% of Lincolnshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 31% higher than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Gainsborough 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.