Crap Towns / Tyne and Wear / Ryton
Ryton
59/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 59. 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
Nice green, bad smell.
A pretty village green, a nature reserve and the whiff of the old tip.
Ryton has a proper village green, an old stone pen for stray cattle and a nice nature reserve down by the river. It also had a landfill that stank out the gardens, a commute into Newcastle that hangs on the river crossings and more fly-tipping than most. The library shut in 2020. Hold your nose and get through it.
Even the Battle of Newburn Ford has ended up on the at-risk register, which is going some for a field. Some idiot sets the grass alight at about ten times the typical town's rate, and shoplifting's more than twice the typical town's. There's no swimming pool, and Gateshead wants £2,716 for a Band D. The old pleasure grounds had boating and curling. Now there's the bus.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ryton's 93 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Deliberate fires93/10031.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping89/10027.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Gateshead council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills71/100638 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson63/1008.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour59/10016.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband43/1005.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 10.6% across the Gateshead council area
- Rain34/100122 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene25/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 39 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution24/1006.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Serious road collisions23/1001.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Hebburn | 75 |
| 10 | Houghton-le-Spring | 73 |
| 11 | Birtley | 69 |
| 12 | Longbenton | 61 |
| – | Ryton | 59 |
| 13 | Washington | 57 |
| 14 | Whickham | 53 |
| 15 | Killingworth | 50 |
| 16 | Shiney Row and Penshaw | 47 |
Ryton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 70.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 7% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 2.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.1
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Ryton (2020)
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 31% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.08am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x 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%
- 1,504 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Gateshead council
Have a crap-off
Ryton 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.