Crap Towns / Lancashire / Padiham
Padiham
100/100Crap Score
The crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest 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
Flooded again, and here come the quads
There's a lovely old hall. Then there's everything else.
Padiham has Gawthorpe Hall, which is lovely, and then everything else. Lads tear about on quad bikes, the vandals and fly-tippers are hard at it, and the Calder fills up with whatever the sewers let go.
It's the crappest town in Lancashire. Anti-social behaviour comes in at more than three times the typical town's rate, vandalism and burglary at twice, and serious crashes at nearly twice. The overflows run for nearly eight times as long as the typical town's. It's wet on 171 days a year and the sun's out for 1,303 hours, and there are 2 pubs to shelter in. It's next to Burnley, and somehow that isn't the worst of it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Padiham's 99 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour99/10045.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping96/10037.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Burnley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson95/10013.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills94/1002,162 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain93/100171 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions92/1004.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires81/10014.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene77/1005.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 71 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution33/1007.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband20/1004.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.0% across the Burnley council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Padiham | 100 |
| 2 | Blackburn | 100 |
| 3 | Colne | 99 |
| 4 | Bacup | 99 |
| 5 | Darwen | 99 |
| 6 | Lancaster | 99 |
| 7 | Accrington | 99 |
| 8 | Burnley | 98 |
| 9 | Preston | 98 |
Padiham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 108 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 42% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 2.0 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 1.1
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs, 1 hairdresser on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 15.8% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 19) Worse: 4x the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.0 per 10,000 people, 2.5x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.44pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 10.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 31% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,303 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 15% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Burnley council
Have a crap-off
Padiham 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.