Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Knottingley
Knottingley
98/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 98. 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
Their own people call it Nothingly
It makes glass bottles and gets ignored by Wakefield. Even the locals call it Forgottenly.
Knottla makes glass bottles, used to build ships and now gets called Nothingly by its own people. They reckon Wakefield Council forgets it exists. What it does have is bookies, pubs and 2 Greggs, which per head is seven times the typical town's.
Crime sits at twice the typical town's rate, car crime at over three times, and serious crashes at two and a half. Both swimming pools have shut, the buses stop at 10.46pm, and the storm overflows nearby spill for six times as long as the typical town's. Wakefield's not missing much.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Knottingley's 98 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Serious road collisions98/1006.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour97/10023.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires96/10039.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson96/10014.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills91/1001,676 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution81/10011.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping75/10016.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wakefield council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene56/1003.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 65 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband37/1007.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.7% across the Wakefield council area
- Rain15/100116 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keighley | 99 |
| 2 | Bradford | 99 |
| – | Knottingley | 98 |
| 3 | Dewsbury | 98 |
| 4 | Shipley | 97 |
| 5 | Halifax | 97 |
| 6 | Heckmondwike | 95 |
| 7 | Huddersfield | 95 |
| 8 | Elland | 94 |
Knottingley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 155 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 76.2
- 6 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 9 pubs, 2 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 2 bookmakers, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 16) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- 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; 2 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
- 10.46pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 31.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,416 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than 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
Knottingley 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.