Ruskington

The ducks are keeping an eye on you.

Twinned with a pond full of nosy ducks

2/100Crap Score

Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 2. Higher scores are crapper.

How the score works

Have your say

Crap Town of the Year 2026/27

See the race

The public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.

Letters from the locals

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The ducks run it.

A stream down the middle of the High Street and a lot of ducks. Nothing else happens.

Ruskington has a stream called the Beck running down the middle of the High Street, and a lot of ducks. It's quiet, well behaved and barely has any crime, and the parish council once put out a joke about putting the ducks under surveillance. That's the news.

It's dry as well, raining on just 111 days a year, and sunnier than the typical town, so the ducks are smug on top of everything else. The Beck floods the High Street now and then, and the kids hang about beside it making a racket and dropping crisp packets. On a Sunday the whole village gets 12 buses. There are 2 pubs, so the choice is easy.

The editor, given a funny look by a duck

What the score is made of

Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.

Ruskington's 45 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 45% of towns.

Sewage spills45/100226 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
Broadband35/1000.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 17.1% across the North Kesteven council area
Food hygiene33/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 24 food businesses with a rating
Fly-tipping32/1008.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Kesteven council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
Air pollution29/1004.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
Anti-social behaviour13/1008.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
Criminal damage and arson8/1003.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
Deliberate fires7/1001.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
Rain6/100111 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
Serious road collisions6/1000.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025

**Your patch: Lincolnshire**Towns in the same county. Top of the table is crappest.
Pos	Town	National	Score
9	Spalding	352nd	64
10	Grantham	467th	53
11	Stamford	529th	46
12	Sleaford	539th	45
In danger of becoming nice from here down.13	Humberston and New Waltham	667th	32
14	Barton-upon-Humber	669th	32
15	Bourne	836th	15
16	North Hykeham	855th	13
–	Ruskington	–	2

Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.

Ruskington by numbers

Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Crime, muck and dodgy water

What's left on the high street

Getting about, getting online, getting rained on

North Kesteven council

Have a crap-off

Ruskington against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.

Against

RuskingtonCrap Score 2

SleafordCrap Score 45

Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.