Crap Towns / Gwent / Pontypool
Pontypool
86/100Crap Score
138th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th in Gwent. 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
Got something to say about Pontypool? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Everyone's gone to Cwmbran
The park's got a dry ski slope and a grotto. The town centre's got empty shops and litter.
Pontypool's famous for a rugby front row and a park with a dry ski slope, a folly and a shell grotto. The town centre's empty shops, shabby buildings and litter, and when Peacocks shut that was another gap. Everyone's gone to Cwmbran.
There's 1 public toilet on the map for the whole town. The overflows dump sewage for over ten times the typical town's hours, criminal damage comes in at 1.8 times, and 124 premises fall short of even the legal minimum broadband speed. Don't call it Ponty unless you want a row.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Pontypool's 97 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Sewage spills97/1002,818 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson93/10012.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene89/1006.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 171 food businesses with a rating
- Rain77/100152 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband73/1009.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 17.3% across the Torfaen council area
- Anti-social behaviour70/10018.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Serious road collisions47/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping44/10010.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Torfaen council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution26/1006.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Ebbw Vale | 96 |
| 5 | Abertillery | 95 |
| 6 | Blackwood | 92 |
| 7 | Caerphilly | 88 |
| 8 | Pontypool | 86 |
| 9 | Ystrad Mynach | 85 |
| 10 | Cwmbrân | 75 |
| 11 | Chepstow | 59 |
| 12 | Abergavenny | 57 |
Pontypool by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 94.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 23% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 34 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 11.7 per 10,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 14 pubs, 7 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 1 vape shop, 2 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.2% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 31) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 About the same: 3.4 per 100,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.3 per 10,000 people, 81% lower than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.18am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 13.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 12% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,516 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Torfaen council
Have a crap-off
Pontypool 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.