Crap Towns / West Yorkshire / Rothwell
Rothwell
61/100Crap Score
Locals call it Rotty.
389th crappest of 984 towns, and 29th in West 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
Wrong bus stop.
Rhubarb country. Quiet nights, a nice park and buses that leave Leeds from wherever they like.
Rothwell is in the Rhubarb Triangle and still thinks it's a village, even though it's basically Leeds. The buses are useless, nights out are quiet and the fly-tippers are busier than most. Springhead Park is nice. There's a legend that England's last wild boar was killed here. Nothing that exciting has happened since.
Fires get started on purpose at three times the typical town's rate, and burglary's nearly twice the typical town's. There's been 11 serious pollution incidents round here since 2016. Play spaces are thin on the ground, so the Rodillians' kids get Springhead Park or nowhere. NatWest's gone too.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Rothwell's 86 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 86% of towns.
- Deliberate fires86/10017.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution82/10011.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping79/10015.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Leeds council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour70/10012.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions57/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson52/1007.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain43/100125 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene25/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 93 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills20/10043.1 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband9/1002.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.0% across the Leeds council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 25 | Brighouse | 66 |
| 26 | Morley | 66 |
| 27 | East Ardsley | 63 |
| 28 | Ossett | 62 |
| 29 | Rothwell | 61 |
| 30 | Honley | 56 |
| 31 | Otley | 55 |
| 32 | Ilkley | 48 |
| 33 | Guiseley | 48 |
Rothwell by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 75.6 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
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 85% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 11 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 14 pubs, 9 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 2 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 17) Worse: 48% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.8 per 100,000 people, 41% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 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
- 11.59pm last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 21.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 41% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,392 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Leeds council
Have a crap-off
Rothwell 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.