Crap Towns / Lancashire / Great Harwood
Great Harwood
96/100Crap Score
41st crappest of 984 towns, and 15th in Lancashire. 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
Clean doorsteps, dirty streets.
The houses are spotless. The streets, the river and the kitchens are a different story.
Great Harwood is famously house-proud. Supposedly every Harwooder owns their house and the one next door, and keeps both spotless. It rains on 168 days a year, so that front step takes some mopping. Shame the pride stops there. The streets are litter and dog muck, Hyndburn's fly-tippers do the rest, and the lorries keep getting stuck down Station Road.
The Environment Agency has logged 43 serious pollution incidents round Snuffy 'Arrod since 2016, 24 of them major. One in five takeaways with a rating scores 0 to 2 for hygiene, five times the typical town's share, and anti-social behaviour is up at nearly twice the typical town's rate. It looks down on Rishton anyway.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Great Harwood's 93 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Fly-tipping93/10033.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Hyndburn council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain90/100168 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour90/10026.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills83/100982 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene77/1005.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 72 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions65/1002.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires65/1008.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson58/1007.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution36/1007.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband29/1004.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.2% across the Hyndburn council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Rawtenstall | 97 |
| 12 | Brierfield | 97 |
| 13 | Morecambe | 97 |
| 14 | Haslingden | 96 |
| 15 | Great Harwood | 96 |
| 16 | Oswaldtwistle | 95 |
| 17 | Blackpool | 92 |
| 18 | Fleetwood | 91 |
| 19 | Skelmersdale | 85 |
Great Harwood by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 75.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of abandoned vehicles on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 2x the typical town's 0.9
- 43 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 11 pubs, 19 hairdressers, 1 vape shop, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 20.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 15) Worse: 5x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 banking hub opened here
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 13% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.24pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3x the typical town's 0.5%
- 26.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,343 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 12% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Hyndburn council
- £2,466 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £74 more than the English average
- 26% of Lancashire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.6x England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Great Harwood 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.