Crap Towns / Mid Glamorgan / Mountain Ash
Mountain Ash
49/100Crap Score
504th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th in Mid Glamorgan. 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 Mountain Ash? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Run for it.
Nos Galan brings the crowds. The rest of the year Mount gets a soaking.
Mountain Ash has the Nos Galan races on New Year's Eve, when a mystery sports star carries the torch and everyone runs through town. Rest of the year, it's lads on off-road bikes tearing about and scooters going like idiots.
You get rain on 175 days a year, and the total comes to over two and a half times the typical town's. There's barely any park on the map. The road crash numbers are low, which with those scooters is a minor miracle.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Mountain Ash's 95 for rain means it's crapper than 95% of towns.
- Rain95/100175 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills77/100757 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping71/10015.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Rhondda Cynon Taf council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene64/1003.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 83 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband60/1005.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 18.6% across the Rhondda Cynon Taf council area
- Criminal damage and arson53/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Anti-social behaviour29/10011.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution14/1005.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions5/1000.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Aberdare | 68 |
| 5 | Pontypridd | 57 |
| 6 | Maesteg | 53 |
| 7 | Tonypandy | 52 |
| 8 | Mountain Ash | 49 |
| 9 | Tonyrefail | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.10 | Church Village | 35 |
| 11 | Bridgend | 32 |
| 12 | Pyle | 25 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Mountain Ash by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 84.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 10% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 4 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 3.1 per 10,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 1.1
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 11 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 17) Worse: 48% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 banking hub opened here
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 50% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.12am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 12.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,445 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 6% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Rhondda Cynon Taf council
Have a crap-off
Mountain Ash 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.