Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Otley
Otley
55/100Crap Score
448th crappest of 984 towns, and 31st 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
Sewage in the river, beer in the pubs
More pubs than you can manage in a night, and a river full of sewage.
Otley's famous for having a pub on every corner and for playing Hotten on Emmerdale. The Chevin's lovely. The town below is charity shops, vape shops and pubs, the traffic's terrible at weekends and school time, and serious crashes run well over the typical town's rate.
The storm drains nearby chuck out sewage for over seven times as long as the typical town's, straight into the Wharfe. The sun manages 1,356 hours a year. There's 19 pubs and 7 public toilets, which works out about right. Have another pint.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Otley's 94 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Sewage spills94/1002,016 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions87/1003.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping79/10015.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Leeds council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain62/100135 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires45/1005.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution34/1007.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour24/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband21/1004.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.0% across the Leeds council area
- Food hygiene13/1000.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 127 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson13/1004.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 27 | East Ardsley | 63 |
| 28 | Ossett | 62 |
| 29 | Rothwell | 61 |
| 30 | Honley | 56 |
| 31 | Otley | 55 |
| 32 | Ilkley | 48 |
| 33 | Guiseley | 48 |
| 34 | Kippax | 44 |
| 35 | Yeadon | 43 |
Otley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 54.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 28% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 38% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2016
What's left on the high street
- 19 pubs, 21 hairdressers, 8 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 2 vape shops, 2 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 15) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 6.9 per 100,000 people, 2x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.8 per 10,000 people, 3x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.32am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 10% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,356 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 11% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Leeds council
Have a crap-off
Otley 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.