Crap Towns / Leicestershire / Hinckley
Hinckley
11/100Crap Score
877th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Leicestershire. 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
Nowt to do, and your old teacher's here.
Named after a bloke who said he could drink a hatful of beer. That's the high point.
Hinckley's called Tin 'At after some bloke who reckoned he could drink a hatful of ale. That's the most exciting thing ever to happen here, and nobody can prove it did. The nightlife's dried up, the shops keep shutting and every trip into town means bumping into someone from school.
The banks are leaving too. Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest have each announced a closure, and the banking hub that's meant to make up for it has been recommended and not opened. Since 2010, 5 public swimming pools have shut for good. Both its conservation areas are on the Heritage at Risk list. On a Sunday the buses barely bother. Nuneaton's worse, mind.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Hinckley's 73 for air pollution means it's crapper than 73% of towns.
- Air pollution73/1009.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband55/1005.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 16.4% across the Hinckley and Bosworth council area
- Criminal damage and arson54/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills43/100211 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions36/1002.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain28/100120 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping26/1007.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Hinckley and Bosworth council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires11/1002.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour11/1008.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene10/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 282 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Leicester Forest East and Kirby Muxloe | 32 |
| 7 | Enderby and Narborough | 29 |
| 8 | Whitwick | 27 |
| 9 | Shepshed | 13 |
| 10 | Hinckley | 11 |
| 11 | Mountsorrel | 10 |
| 12 | Earl Shilton | 9 |
| 13 | Ashby-de-la-Zouch | 7 |
| 14 | Lutterworth | 2 |
Hinckley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 73.3 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
- 11 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 35% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2017
What's left on the high street
- 33 pubs, 16 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 6 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 42) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 5.9 per 100,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 11 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open; 5 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.26am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 15.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space About the same: About the same as the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,513 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Hinckley and Bosworth council
- £2,383 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £9 less than the English average
- 11% of Leicestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 31% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Hinckley 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.