Crap Towns / North Yorkshire / Redcar
Redcar
71/100Crap Score
Locals call it Redka.
282nd crappest of 984 towns, and 7th in North Yorkshire. 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
Their pier goes up, not out
The steelworks went. They gave Redcar a pier that goes up instead.
Redcar lost its steelworks and got the Beacon, a tower they call a vertical pier, which goes up in the air instead of out to sea. The boating lake is neglected, the seafront has been done up and looks worse, and the High Street is empty. Vandalism, fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour are worse than most.
Fires get started on purpose at nearly thirteen times the typical town's rate, the bins at about twenty-two times. Barclays, Halifax, NatWest and Santander have all shut a branch, and Roseberry Library went in 2024. The sea's rated Excellent, the lemon tops are still good, and they filmed Dunkirk on the beach once. It looked about right.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Redcar's 99 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Deliberate fires99/10073.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping97/10047.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Redcar and Cleveland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour94/10030.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson93/10012.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills49/100272 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution32/1008.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain29/100120 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband29/1003.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 9.8% across the Redcar and Cleveland council area
- Serious road collisions23/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene18/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 290 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | York | 85 |
| 4 | Scarborough | 78 |
| 5 | Guisborough | 78 |
| 6 | Skipton | 74 |
| 7 | Redcar | 71 |
| 8 | Thornaby-on-Tees | 71 |
| 9 | Whitby | 64 |
| 10 | Northallerton | 56 |
| 11 | Selby | 51 |
Redcar by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 110 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 44% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 14 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 3.7 per 10,000 people, 9% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
- 4 of 5 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 16 pubs, 9 hairdressers, 12 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 52) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 10.6 per 100,000 people, 3.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Roseberry Library (2024)
- 10 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.7 per 10,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.12am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 17.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 12% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,512 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Redcar and Cleveland council
- £2,544 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £152 more than the English average
- 7% of Redcar and Cleveland council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 56% lower than England's 16%
- 3 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Redcar 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.