Crap Towns / Lancashire / Nelson
Nelson
98/100Crap Score
25th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Lancashire. 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
Nelson. It's a car park now.
Nelson's big regeneration plan is car parks. It's already got the empty shops.
Nelson was a cotton town so radical they called it Little Moscow. Now the regeneration plan seems to be knocking down old buildings and putting up car parks. There's not much to do in the centre, the shops are empty, and you can always find a space.
It rains on 168 days a year and the sun manages 1,266 hours, which is grim even by Pendle's standards. Anti-social behaviour runs at 2.3 times the typical town's rate, food businesses are three and a half times as likely to be rated 0 to 2 on hygiene, and the back alleys get used as a tip. There are 4 pubs and one public toilet for the whole town.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Nelson's 97 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Fly-tipping97/10051.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Pendle council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour96/10032.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene95/1008.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 206 food businesses with a rating
- Rain91/100168 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires74/10010.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions73/1003.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills66/100521 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson62/1008.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution50/1008.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband11/1001.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.7% across the Pendle council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Lancaster | 99 |
| 7 | Accrington | 99 |
| 8 | Burnley | 98 |
| 9 | Preston | 98 |
| 10 | Nelson | 98 |
| 11 | Rawtenstall | 97 |
| 12 | Brierfield | 97 |
| 13 | Morecambe | 97 |
| 14 | Haslingden | 96 |
Nelson by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 85.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 12% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 5 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 56% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 13 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 2 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 3 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 10.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 39) Worse: 2.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 3.0 per 100,000 people, 12% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.3 per 10,000 people, 81% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Worse: 0.3 per 10,000 people, 57% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.03am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 8.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 46% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,266 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 17% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Pendle council
Have a crap-off
Nelson 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.