Pelton and Ouston

King Coal's the only one not in the way.

Twinned with a wheelie bin across the pavement

61/100Crap Score

Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 61. Higher scores are crapper.

How the score works

Have your say

Crap Town of the Year 2026/27

See the race

The public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.

Letters from the locals

Got something to say about Pelton and Ouston? Write in.

Climb over the wheelie bins

A big statue of a miner, cars on the pavement and wheelie bins blocking the rest.

Pelton's got a big King Coal statue from when the pits were here. Now it's got cars parked on the pavements, wheelie bins dumped across the paths and traffic calming promised for years. The paths by the brickworks are thick with mud. And some idiot keeps smashing things, at twice the typical town's rate.

The local firebugs are setting the grass alight at nearly ten times the typical town's rate too. There's no public park on the map and no swimming pool, 2 pubs, and County Durham wants £2,622 for a Band D. King Coal's seen better days. So has Pelton.

The editor, who climbed over the bins

What the score is made of

Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.

Pelton and Ouston's 95 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 95% of towns.

Criminal damage and arson95/10014.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
Deliberate fires93/10030.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
Anti-social behaviour79/10021.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
Rain61/100134 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
Food hygiene60/1005.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 20 food businesses with a rating
Fly-tipping56/10010.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, County Durham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
Sewage spills45/100220 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
Broadband35/1001.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.6% across the County Durham council area
Air pollution32/1007.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
Serious road collisions7/1000.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025

**Your patch: County Durham**Towns in the same county. Top of the table is crappest.
Pos	Town	National	Score
7	Stockton-on-Tees	266th	73
8	Peterlee	286th	71
9	Durham	293rd	70
10	Consett	360th	63
–	Pelton and Ouston	–	61
11	Seaham	395th	60
12	Newton Aycliffe	415th	58
13	Billingham	473rd	52
In danger of becoming nice from here down.14	Egglescliffe	745th	24

Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.

Pelton and Ouston by numbers

Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Crime, muck and dodgy water

What's left on the high street

Getting about, getting online, getting rained on

County Durham council

Have a crap-off

Pelton and Ouston against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.

Against

Pelton and OustonCrap Score 61

BirtleyCrap Score 69

Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.