Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Ossett
Ossett
62/100Crap Score
372nd crappest of 984 towns, and 28th in West 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Locals call it Osshite. Locals.
Ossett has a grand town hall and a lot of pubs. Its nicknames are Osshite and Tossett.
Ossett made cloth from old rags and has a very grand town hall for a place this size. It got a mention in It's Grim Up North, which is about right. Locals call it Osshite or Tossett, and they live there. The big moans are parking on Dale Street, the free parking going and lads on off-road bikes round Holme Way.
Plenty of pubs, mind, 27 of them, two and a half times the typical town's per head. The swimming pool's shut for good, so it's the pub or nothing. 3 of its 27 rated takeaways score 0 to 2, so make it crisps. Halifax has gone as well.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ossett's 80 for air pollution means it's crapper than 80% of towns.
- Air pollution80/10011.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping75/10016.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Wakefield council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills68/100562 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene66/1003.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 110 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires57/1006.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions51/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain50/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour43/1009.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson24/1005.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband6/1001.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.7% across the Wakefield council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Featherstone | 68 |
| 25 | Brighouse | 66 |
| 26 | Morley | 66 |
| 27 | East Ardsley | 63 |
| 28 | Ossett | 62 |
| 29 | Rothwell | 61 |
| 30 | Honley | 56 |
| 31 | Otley | 55 |
| 32 | Ilkley | 48 |
Ossett by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 67.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 11% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 12 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.5 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 27 pubs, 23 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 2 vape shops, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 11.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 27) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.6 per 100,000 people, 35% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 13% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.26pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier 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%
- 19.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 25% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,403 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Wakefield council
- £2,297 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £95 less than the English average
- 19% of Wakefield council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 19% higher than England's 16%
- 5 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Ossett 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.