Crap Towns / Mid Glamorgan / Porthcawl
Porthcawl
9/100Crap Score
899th crappest of 984 towns, and 14th in Mid Glamorgan. 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
Porthcawl. Too nice, sadly.
Surf, sand and a weekend of tribute singers. It's annoyingly nice.
Porthcawl is far too nice for this site, which is irritating. There's surf at Rest Bay, beaches either side and a weekend every year when the town fills up with rock and roll tribute singers in quiffs. The waterfront regeneration has dragged on for ages and they keep planning houses on the car parks.
Every bathing water nearby came out Excellent and there are over twice the typical town's pubs per head. Halifax and Lloyds have gone, which is about the worst news Porthcawl's had in years. Greggs, charity shops, pubs. Fine.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Porthcawl's 81 for rain means it's crapper than 81% of towns.
- Rain81/100158 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping55/10010.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bridgend council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Criminal damage and arson33/1005.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene27/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 144 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills24/10059.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband22/1003.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.9% across the Bridgend council area
- Anti-social behaviour21/10010.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution6/1004.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions2/1000.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Maesteg | 53 |
| 7 | Tonypandy | 52 |
| 8 | Mountain Ash | 49 |
| 9 | Tonyrefail | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.10 | Church Village | 35 |
| 11 | Bridgend | 32 |
| 12 | Pyle | 25 |
| 13 | Sarn | 10 |
| 14 | Porthcawl | 9 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Porthcawl by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 68.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 10% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 9 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.7 per 10,000 people, 5.2x the typical town's 1.1
- 3 of 3 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 14 hairdressers, 8 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 2 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 22) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 12.7 per 100,000 people, 3.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.5 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.24pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 18.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,670 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 9% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Bridgend council
Have a crap-off
Porthcawl 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.