Crap Towns / Lancashire / Ormskirk
Ormskirk
51/100Crap Score
483rd crappest of 984 towns, and 29th 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
Gingerbread. Then shouting.
A market town with a clock tower, a lot of gingerbread and students shouting on the way home.
Ormskirk is an old market town with a clock tower, a gingerbread festival and a university that's taken over whole streets. Students shout their way home at night, and people park so badly the bin lorries can't get down the road.
Crime's low otherwise, and the sewage figures are about as clean as they come. It's the banks that are legging it. Five branch closures announced since 2022, more than five times the typical town's rate. Southport thinks it's a dump. Rich, coming from Southport.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ormskirk's 80 for rain means it's crapper than 80% of towns.
- Rain80/100157 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions78/1003.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping76/10017.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, West Lancashire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour66/10017.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene45/1002.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 177 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband45/1004.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.4% across the West Lancashire council area
- Air pollution30/1007.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson10/1004.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires9/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills7/1002.7 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Cleveleys | 64 |
| 26 | Heysham | 63 |
| 27 | Barnoldswick | 63 |
| 28 | Poulton-le-Fylde | 61 |
| 29 | Ormskirk | 51 |
| 30 | Thornton | 48 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.31 | Lytham St Anne's | 39 |
| 32 | Euxton | 35 |
| 33 | Penwortham | 34 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Ormskirk by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 41.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 46% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of broken street lights on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 0.7
What's left on the high street
- 19 pubs, 19 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 4 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 4 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 27) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 5 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 18.0 per 100,000 people, 5.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 6 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 38% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.17am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 17.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 11% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,473 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
West Lancashire council
Have a crap-off
Ormskirk 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.