Crap Towns / Bedfordshire / Sandy
Sandy
17/100Crap Score
813th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in Bedfordshire. 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
Birds get the nice bit.
The RSPB's headquarters, some nice woods and a town centre of charity shops.
Sandy is where the RSPB has its headquarters, so the birds are well looked after. The people get a town centre of charity shops and takeaways, no public park, no public pool and no beach either, despite the name. There's no bus after 6.13pm and there isn't one on a Sunday. The London trains stop here, which is the best thing you can say for it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Sandy's 61 for broadband means it's crapper than 61% of towns.
- Broadband61/1008.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 13.3% across the Central Bedfordshire council area
- Deliberate fires53/1005.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution52/1007.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene44/1002.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 50 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills42/100197 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping40/1009.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Central Bedfordshire council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour37/10013.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson30/1005.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain6/100111 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions6/1000.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luton | 66 |
| 2 | Bedford | 61 |
| 3 | Houghton Regis | 60 |
| 4 | Dunstable | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.5 | Kempston | 27 |
| 6 | Sandy | 17 |
| 7 | Leighton Buzzard | 13 |
| 8 | Stotfold | 10 |
| 9 | Flitwick | 4 |
| 10 | Biggleswade | 2 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Sandy by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 61.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 130 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 114 per 10,000 people, 33.5x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 8 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 vape shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 10) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 44% 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
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 6.13pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 15.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space, and OS maps no public park here About the same: About the same as the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,585 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Central Bedfordshire council
- £2,516 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £124 more than the English average
- 13% of Central Bedfordshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 19% lower than England's 16%
- 17 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Sandy 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.