Crap Towns / Derbyshire / Ripley
Ripley
47/100Crap Score
523rd crappest of 984 towns, and 9th in Derbyshire. 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
Ripley. Better when the fair's on.
The fair comes in October. The rest of the year it's barbers, vape shops and bookies.
Ripley comes alive for a few days every October when the Charter Fair takes over the town centre and everyone moans about the noise and the parking. Then the fair leaves and you can see the place again. Run-down shopfronts, empty units, and a high street that's mostly barbers and vape shops, the vape shops at five times the typical town's per head.
The pubs are well stocked and the police have plenty on: drugs and public order offences both run well above the typical town's. HSBC and Lloyds have both cleared off. Butterley's old blast furnaces and underground wharf have ended up on the at-risk register, and the storm overflows spill at 3.2 times the typical town's rate. There's a bandstand in Crossley Park. Nobody's playing it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ripley's 80 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 80% of towns.
- Sewage spills80/100866 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson72/1008.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour69/10017.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions68/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution67/1009.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain57/100131 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband37/1004.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 10.8% across the Amber Valley council area
- Deliberate fires24/1003.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene15/1000.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 123 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping0/1001.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Amber Valley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Shirebrook | 62 |
| 6 | Staveley | 61 |
| 7 | Matlock | 59 |
| 8 | South Normanton and Pinxton | 50 |
| 9 | Ripley | 47 |
| 10 | Somercotes and Swanwick | 47 |
| 11 | Ilkeston | 43 |
| 12 | Buxton | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.13 | Hadfield | 36 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Ripley by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 99.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 30% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 0.9
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 19 pubs, 26 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 2 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 22) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 9.9 per 100,000 people, 2.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.0 per 10,000 people, 25% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.01am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 53% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,478 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Amber Valley council
- £2,408 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £16 more than the English average
- 15% of Derbyshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 6% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Ripley 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.