Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Mexborough
Mexborough
92/100Crap Score
Locals call it Mecky.
Joint 75th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in South Yorkshire. 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 Mexborough? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Mexborough. Even the banks left.
Vandalism, dodgy kitchens, bad roads, sewage, and flies locals blame on the waste site.
Mexborough? Grim. It was coal, pottery, bricks and a big railway depot. Now Halifax, Lloyds and NatWest have all shut, and the banking hub they recommended hasn't opened, so there's even less reason to go into town. When you do there's street drinking and lads causing bother.
Then there's the flies and the stink locals blame on the Manvers waste plant. 8.7% of the food places score 0 to 2, over three and a half times the typical town's share. Things go up in flames at nearly five times the typical rate and the vandalism's nearly twice. The town centre's made the Heritage at Risk register. So's the rest of it, really.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Mexborough's 95 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 95% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson95/10013.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills94/1002,026 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires93/10027.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene91/1008.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 92 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions91/1004.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution81/10010.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour77/10020.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping31/1008.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Doncaster council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain27/100120 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband0/1000.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.6% across the Doncaster council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Rotherham | 97 |
| 3 | Cudworth and Shafton | 95 |
| 4 | Sheffield | 94 |
| 5 | Rawmarsh | 93 |
| 6 | Mexborough | 92 |
| 7 | Dinnington | 92 |
| 8 | Bentley | 91 |
| 9 | Wombwell | 91 |
| 10 | Doncaster | 88 |
Mexborough by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 119 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of abandoned vehicles on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 44% higher than the typical town's 0.9
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2016
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 1 bank, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 19) Worse: 33% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 19.3 per 100,000 people, 5.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 63% 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
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.46pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- Under 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: Far lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 6.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 59% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,524 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Doncaster council
Have a crap-off
Mexborough 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.