Crap Towns / Hertfordshire / Royston
Royston
18/100Crap Score
804th crappest of 984 towns, and 18th 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
Best night out's down a cave
There's a mysterious cave under the town centre. It's the liveliest thing in Royston.
Royston has a mysterious cave under the town centre, covered in medieval carvings nobody can explain, and now it's on the Heritage at Risk register. Up top, there's even less going on. Locals call it Roybiza as a joke and Royhole when they mean it.
The last bus home is at 6.55pm and there isn't one on a Sunday, so a night out in Royston is a night in Royston. Somehow it's got five times the typical town's banks per head, and nothing to spend it on. Crime's low. It's too quiet for anything else.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Royston's 70 for broadband means it's crapper than 70% of towns.
- Broadband70/10010.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.2% across the North Hertfordshire council area
- Fly-tipping57/10010.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Hertfordshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour54/10015.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution46/1006.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires35/1004.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions33/1002.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene26/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 92 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson9/1004.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain5/100110 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Berkhamsted | 22 |
| 15 | Cheshunt | 21 |
| 16 | Bishop's Stortford | 19 |
| 17 | Tring | 19 |
| 18 | Royston | 18 |
| 19 | St Albans | 18 |
| 20 | Ware | 8 |
| 21 | Sawbridgeworth | 7 |
| 22 | Hertford | 7 |
Royston by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 44.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 42% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 15 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 8.6 per 10,000 people, 2.5x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs, 13 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 7 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 11.5 per 100,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 9 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.2 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 6.55pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 10.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 34% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,564 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Hertfordshire council
- £2,449 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £57 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%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the 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.