Crap Towns / County Durham / Shildon
Shildon
70/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 70. 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
Where did the trains go?
The wagon works shut, the shops shut, the takeaways opened and the vandals moved in.
Shildon reckons it's the Cradle of the Railways, and there's a big railway museum to prove it. Mention Darlington and stand well back. The wagon works shut years ago and people are still fuming. The shops are closing and the takeaways are taking over.
Vandalism runs at three and a half times the typical town's rate, burglary at nearly four, and stuff gets torched at over eight times. There's no swimming pool, but there's plenty of park, so there's always something to set fire to. The takeaways are clean, to be fair. The trains were better.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Shildon's 99 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson99/10025.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires97/10046.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour97/10034.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband57/1006.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.6% across the County Durham council area
- Fly-tipping56/10010.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, County Durham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain51/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene46/1002.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 47 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills36/100133 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Serious road collisions32/1001.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution13/1005.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Spennymoor | 74 |
| 7 | Stockton-on-Tees | 73 |
| 8 | Peterlee | 71 |
| 9 | Durham | 70 |
| – | Shildon | 70 |
| 10 | Consett | 63 |
| 11 | Seaham | 60 |
| 12 | Newton Aycliffe | 58 |
| 13 | Billingham | 52 |
Shildon by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 147 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.9x the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of broken street lights on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical town's 0.7
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 15) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 31% higher 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
- 11.41pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 13.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 13% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,486 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
County Durham council
Have a crap-off
Shildon 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.