Crap Towns / Worcestershire / Redditch
Redditch
35/100Crap Score
Known as The Ditch.
637th crappest of 984 towns, and 4th in Worcestershire. 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
Round and round.
Redditch made needles and fishing hooks. Now it makes roundabouts that all look the same.
Redditch made needles and fishing hooks, and now it's known as The Ditch. It's a new town built on dual carriageways and roundabouts that all look the same, and every sign sends you to Bromsgrove. Somebody prints a calendar of the roundabouts. People buy it.
In the centre the shops are empty, and round the estates the fly-tippers are busy. Redditch council logged fly-tipping at 2.1 times the typical council's rate, a fair bit of it whole lorry loads, and prosecuted nobody. The last bus on a Wednesday goes at 9.43pm, so after that you're walking round the roundabouts. Arrow Valley park is good. Nobody's put a roundabout in it yet.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Redditch's 87 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Fly-tipping87/10023.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Redditch council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain55/100130 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband49/1007.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 9.3% across the Redditch council area
- Air pollution44/1007.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene43/1002.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 270 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson41/1006.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires41/1005.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour37/10013.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions24/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills8/1003.2 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evesham | 47 |
| 2 | Kidderminster | 47 |
| 3 | Stourport-on-Severn | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.4 | Redditch | 35 |
| 5 | Worcester | 29 |
| 6 | Great Malvern | 27 |
| 7 | Bromsgrove | 26 |
| 8 | Catshill | 19 |
| 9 | Droitwich Spa | 2 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Redditch by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 77.0 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
- 22 reports of abandoned vehicles on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 2.7 per 10,000 people, 3x the typical town's 0.9
- 9 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 12 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 7 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 8 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 57) Better: 13% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 3.7 per 100,000 people, 9% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 9 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.2 per 10,000 people, 71% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 9.43pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 12.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 18% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,498 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Redditch council
- £2,463 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £71 more than the English average
- 18% of Worcestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Redditch 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.