Crap Towns / Hertfordshire / Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth
4/100Crap Score
948th crappest of 984 towns, and 24th 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
Smug. Very tidy, mind.
Ricky is a tidy commuter town with lakes, a canal and lots of arguments about dogs.
Rickmansworth is old Metro-land, all lakes, canals and commuters. No vandals, no fly-tipping, clean kitchens, safe roads. The locals have to find other things to moan about, so they go with Aquadrome visitors parking in their road, too many vape shops and dogs off the lead. Hard times.
The lakes are lovely, as long as you don't think about what's in the water. Storm overflows round here spilled for 383 hours per 10,000 people a year, 40% more than the typical town, and the latest serious pollution incident put metal waste in it. The council recycles 61.1% of the household rubbish. The water company's still working on it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Rickmansworth's 84 for air pollution means it's crapper than 84% of towns.
- Air pollution84/10010.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills58/100383 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband38/1005.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 8.5% across the Three Rivers council area
- Anti-social behaviour37/10013.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain23/100118 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping10/1004.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Three Rivers council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires8/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene8/1000.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 157 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions6/1001.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson6/1003.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 18 | Royston | 18 |
| 19 | St Albans | 18 |
| 20 | Ware | 8 |
| 21 | Sawbridgeworth | 7 |
| 22 | Hertford | 7 |
| 23 | Abbots Langley and Kings Langley | 7 |
| 24 | Rickmansworth | 4 |
| 25 | Harpenden | 3 |
| 26 | Chorleywood | 0 |
Rickmansworth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 54.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 29% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 135 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 51.4 per 10,000 people, 15.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 14 pubs, 6 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 3 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 22) Worse: 15% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 7.6 per 100,000 people, 2.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 11 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.2 per 10,000 people, 2.6x the typical town's 1.6
- 3 public swimming pools open Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.30am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 30.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,621 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 6% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Three Rivers council
- £2,422 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £30 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%
- 5 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Rickmansworth 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.