Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Hemsworth
Hemsworth
92/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 92. 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
Got something to say about Hemsworth? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Too noisy for cockerels.
Pit town. Pit's gone. The vandals stayed.
Hemsworth's big fight of recent years was over cockerels on the allotments being too noisy. Meanwhile the town has more vandalism, anti-social behaviour and dodgy kitchens than most places its size. Priorities.
4 of its 15 rated takeaways score 0 to 2, over six times the typical town's share. The bad crashes happen at nearly twice the typical town's rate, Barclays has gone, and some idiot keeps setting fire to things. Now there's a row about noise from a new bar. The cockerels must be laughing.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Hemsworth's 93 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson93/10012.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires90/10023.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions89/1004.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour89/10017.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene81/1007.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 57 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping75/10016.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wakefield council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution57/1007.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills38/100159 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain28/100120 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband11/1002.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.7% across the Wakefield council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Elland | 94 |
| 9 | Batley | 94 |
| 10 | Wakefield | 93 |
| 11 | Pontefract | 92 |
| – | Hemsworth | 92 |
| 12 | South Elmsall | 91 |
| 13 | Cleckheaton | 90 |
| 14 | Leeds | 89 |
| 15 | Castleford | 88 |
Hemsworth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 128 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.4 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 10 pubs, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 26.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 15) Worse: 6.7x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 10.9 per 100,000 people, 3.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.43pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier 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%
- 16.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 9% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,469 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Wakefield council
- £2,297 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £95 less than the English average
- 19% of Wakefield council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 19% higher than England's 16%
- 5 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Hemsworth 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.