Crap Towns / Hertfordshire / Potters Bar
Potters Bar
43/100Crap Score
565th crappest of 984 towns, and 7th in Hertfordshire. 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
Sounds like a pub. Isn't.
A commuter town where the most exciting thing is getting on the motorway.
Potters Bar is a commuter town. Train to London in the morning, back at night, and in between fuck all. The kids have nothing to do, so some of them make a nuisance of themselves instead, with anti-social behaviour a quarter above the typical town's. There's no nightlife and fewer pubs per head than the typical town.
Locals reckon the most exciting thing round here is the M25 junction, and they're not joking. Oakmere Park is nice, but 44% of the people live further than 400 metres from a park or play area, so most of them get the motorway instead. There's a bus garage. Enjoy.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Potters Bar's 90 for air pollution means it's crapper than 90% of towns.
- Air pollution90/10012.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene68/1003.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 138 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour67/10017.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping59/10011.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Hertsmere council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband51/1007.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 10.2% across the Hertsmere council area
- Serious road collisions33/1002.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires32/1004.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson21/1005.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain21/100118 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills11/1009.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Borehamwood | 50 |
| 4 | Hemel Hempstead | 50 |
| 5 | Stevenage | 50 |
| 6 | Baldock | 45 |
| 7 | Potters Bar | 43 |
| 8 | Bushey | 42 |
| 9 | Welwyn Garden City | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.10 | Watford | 38 |
| 11 | Hitchin | 35 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Potters Bar by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 74.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 124 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 53.0 per 10,000 people, 15.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs, 22 hairdressers, 2 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 1 bank, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 23) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.3 per 100,000 people, 26% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.12am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 44.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,628 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 6% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Hertsmere council
- £2,406 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £14 more than the English average
- 18% of Hertfordshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Potters Bar 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.