Crap Towns / Lancashire / Preston
Preston
98/100Crap Score
Blackpool fans call them Nobbers.
23rd crappest of 984 towns, and 9th 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
Shit roads. Ask the bollard.
Massive concrete bus station, a good walk from the railway. Nobody's ever explained why.
Preston has a huge concrete bus station, a long walk from the railway station, and nobody's ever explained why. The Ringway's dug up, the one-way system sends you in circles, and a bollard on Fishergate gets flattened so often it's a local celebrity. Serious crashes come in at more than three times the typical town's rate, so the bollard's not alone.
Anti-social behaviour is nearly four times the typical town's, vandalism nearly twice, and leave a bike anywhere and it's gone. Preston council records three times the typical council's fly-tipping and recycles barely more than a quarter of the household waste. Locals call it Depreston. The butter pie's good, mind.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Preston's 99 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour99/10052.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions99/1007.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson94/10013.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping94/10035.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Preston council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires88/10018.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain84/100160 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills65/100499 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution51/1009.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband48/1008.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 7.8% across the Preston council area
- Food hygiene18/1001.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 955 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Darwen | 99 |
| 6 | Lancaster | 99 |
| 7 | Accrington | 99 |
| 8 | Burnley | 98 |
| 9 | Preston | 98 |
| 10 | Nelson | 98 |
| 11 | Rawtenstall | 97 |
| 12 | Brierfield | 97 |
| 13 | Morecambe | 97 |
Preston by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 133 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 76.2
- 56 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.9 per 10,000 people, 5.4x the typical town's 1.1
- 17 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 50 pubs, 49 hairdressers, 18 charity shops, 10 bookmakers, 13 vape shops, 15 banks, 7 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 178) Better: 43% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 1.1 per 100,000 people, 68% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 16 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 6 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 5 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.19am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 12.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 19% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,404 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 8% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Preston council
Have a crap-off
Preston 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.