Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Garforth
Garforth
42/100Crap Score
571st crappest of 984 towns, and 36th in West Yorkshire. Higher scores are crapper.
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Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
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Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Leeds is that way
Garforth's a commuter town for Leeds. The fly-tippers like it more than the commuters do.
Garforth used to dig coal. Now it mostly sends people to Leeds on the train. Main Street has pubs, takeaways, hairdressers and charity shops, and the commuters park in the spaces meant for shoppers. It's dull, and the Garforthians say so themselves. The lanes round about get fly-tipped more than most.
Half the town lives more than 400 metres from the nearest park or playground, which for a place with nothing else to do is a bit much. Halifax shut its branch in 2024. There's 2 Greggs, about four times the typical town's per head, and 11 pubs, so nobody's going hungry or sober. The train to Leeds is always rammed. Funny that.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Garforth's 79 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 79% of towns.
- Fly-tipping79/10015.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Leeds council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution75/10010.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires66/1008.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills53/100308 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain52/100129 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene49/1002.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 85 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions39/1002.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband22/1004.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.0% across the Leeds council area
- Anti-social behaviour20/1006.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson12/1004.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 29 | Rothwell | 61 |
| 30 | Honley | 56 |
| 31 | Otley | 55 |
| 32 | Ilkley | 48 |
| 33 | Guiseley | 48 |
| 34 | Kippax | 44 |
| 35 | Yeadon | 43 |
| 36 | Garforth | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.37 | Wetherby | 16 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Garforth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 49.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 35% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.7 per 10,000 people, 79% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2018
What's left on the high street
- 11 pubs, 7 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 6.6 per 100,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public swimming pool open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.46pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than 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%
- 49.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 3.2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,397 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Leeds council
Have a crap-off
Garforth 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.