Crap TownsBritain's towns, rated by the people stuck in them

Crap Towns / North Yorkshire / Marske-by-the-Sea

Welcome to

Marske-by-the-Sea

Boats on tractors. Idiots' cars on the sand.
Twinned with Saltburn before the coffee arrived

32/100Crap Score

Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 32. Higher scores are crapper.

How the score works

Have your say

Crap Town of the Year 2026/27

See the race

The 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 Marske-by-the-Sea? Write in.

Marske. Get off the beach.

A long sandy beach between Redcar and Saltburn, with some idiot's car parked on it.

Marske's got a long sandy beach and fishermen who launch their boats with tractors. Visitors see that and decide their Corsa can go on the sand too. The old High Street gets clogged with parked cars, and people dump their crap round the edge of the village. The posh Saltburn coffee lot are creeping down the coast. Marske isn't keen.

Both bathing waters are rated Excellent and the rainfall's well under the typical town's, so the beach really is nice. Behind it, the local yobs are setting fire to the grass at about ten times the typical town's rate, and Redcar and Cleveland's fly-tipping is over four times the typical council's. There's 3 pubs and no swimming pool. The sea's free.

The editor, who parked on the road like a normal person

What the score is made of

Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.

Marske-by-the-Sea's 97 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 97% of towns.

  • Fly-tipping97/10047.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Redcar and Cleveland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
  • Deliberate fires93/10031.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
  • Anti-social behaviour50/10015.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
  • Sewage spills48/100253 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
  • Food hygiene26/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 38 food businesses with a rating
  • Broadband23/1002.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 9.8% across the Redcar and Cleveland council area
  • Criminal damage and arson19/1004.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
  • Rain15/100116 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
  • Air pollution15/1006.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
  • Serious road collisions4/1000.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
Your patch: North YorkshireTowns in the same county. Top of the table is crappest.
PosTownNationalScore
10Northallerton436th56
11Selby481st51
12Huntington533rd46
13Haxby589th40
–Marske-by-the-Sea–32
14Catterick Garrison681st31
15Knaresborough743rd25
16Harrogate826th16
17Ripon838th15

Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.

Marske-by-the-Sea by numbers

Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Crime, muck and dodgy water

What's left on the high street

Getting about, getting online, getting rained on

Redcar and Cleveland council

Have a crap-off

Marske-by-the-Sea against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.

Marske-by-the-SeaCrap Score 32
v
Saltburn-by-the-SeaCrap Score 65

Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.