Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Royston
Royston
78/100Crap Score
216th crappest of 984 towns, and 15th in South 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
Somebody's dumped a sofa again
Royston turned its pit land into a country park. The fly-tippers treat the rest of it like a tip.
Royston was pits and coke works, and the old mining land is now Rabbit Ings Country Park, which is nice. The fly-tippers are busier here than most places. The High Street and Midland Road jam up, the school run parks everywhere, you can't get a doctor or a dentist and empty bungalows have been left to rot. Plenty of new houses. Just don't get ill.
Some bright spark's setting fire to things at seven and a half times the typical town's rate, the grass at about ten times. Noise has turned up in 4 serious pollution incidents round here. It's got plenty of park and 2 swimming pools, to be fair, so at least you can keep fit while you wait for the GP.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Royston's 96 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Deliberate fires96/10042.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping83/10020.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Barnsley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson78/1009.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour71/10018.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills70/100588 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband56/1009.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 8.7% across the Barnsley council area
- Air pollution55/1008.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions43/1002.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain41/100124 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene26/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 38 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | Hoyland | 88 |
| 12 | Wath upon Dearne | 85 |
| 13 | Swallownest and Aston | 80 |
| 14 | Conisbrough | 79 |
| 15 | Royston | 78 |
| 16 | Dunscroft and Hatfield | 76 |
| 17 | Adwick le Street | 73 |
| 18 | Warmsworth | 70 |
| 19 | Maltby | 65 |
Royston by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 83.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 10% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 17 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 15.8 per 10,000 people, 4.6x the typical town's 3.4
- 6 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 2 hairdressers, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 2.7x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.04am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 18.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 18% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,473 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Barnsley council
Have a crap-off
Royston 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.