Crap Towns / Mid Glamorgan / Sarn
Sarn
10/100Crap Score
886th crappest of 984 towns, and 13th in Mid Glamorgan. 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
Got something to say about Sarn? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Sarn. You've seen the services.
Most people only know Sarn from a motorway services sign on the M4.
Ever been to Sarn? No. You've been to the services. That's what everyone knows it for. It's a decent enough place outside Bridgend with a station on the Maesteg line and not much else to report. They keep building houses and the peak trains are rammed.
It pisses down on 172 days a year and the buses stop at 9.54pm. The broadband's excellent, mind, so you can look at pictures of somewhere else. Pull in, pull out.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Sarn's 94 for rain means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Rain94/100172 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping55/10010.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bridgend council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires50/100
- Sewage spills37/100143 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson25/1005.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour21/10010.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene21/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 49 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution16/1006.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Broadband10/1001.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.9% across the Bridgend council area
- Serious road collisions2/1000.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Maesteg | 53 |
| 7 | Tonypandy | 52 |
| 8 | Mountain Ash | 49 |
| 9 | Tonyrefail | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.10 | Church Village | 35 |
| 11 | Bridgend | 32 |
| 12 | Pyle | 25 |
| 13 | Sarn | 10 |
| 14 | Porthcawl | 9 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Sarn by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 69.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 9% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 35 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 29.5 per 10,000 people, 32.8x the typical town's 0.9
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 11) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 9.54pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.3% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 33.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.1x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,513 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Bridgend council
Have a crap-off
Sarn 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.