Crap Towns / Lancashire / Penwortham
Penwortham
34/100Crap Score
645th crappest of 984 towns, and 33rd 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
Penidorm? Behave.
Locals call it Penidorm because of the bars. There's no beach. It rains like Lancashire.
Locals call it Penidorm because Liverpool Road's got a few bars. There is no beach. There's the Ribble, and the rain turns up on 161 days a year. The local legend is a fairy funeral on Castle Hill, which is about as lively as it gets once the bars shut.
Crime's low and the kitchens are clean, so it's fine really. The storm drains chuck out sewage for three times as long as the typical town's, and there's one public toilet for all those bars. Drivers rat-run the side streets to dodge the queue into Preston. Just not Benidorm. Not even close.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Penwortham's 84 for rain means it's crapper than 84% of towns.
- Rain84/100161 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills78/100810 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions75/1003.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour56/10016.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires32/1004.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband31/1002.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 11.6% across the South Ribble council area
- Air pollution31/1007.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson14/1004.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene11/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 75 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping5/1004.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, South Ribble council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 34 | Longton | 25 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Penwortham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 45.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 41% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 71% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 7 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 69% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.05am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 6% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,416 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than the typical town's 1,532
South Ribble council
Have a crap-off
Penwortham 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.