Crap Towns / North Lanarkshire / Shotts
Shotts
88/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 88. 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
Shotts. Up on the moor, in the shite.
Up on the moor between Glasgow and Edinburgh, where it snows in summer and the overflows never stop.
Shotts sits on a bleak bit of moor halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh, high enough that locals swear it snows in June. The sun manages 1,268 hours a year and the rest is rain, 181 days of it. The best-known thing about the place is the high-security jail.
The sewage is worse. The overflows round Shotts spill for fourteen times the typical town's hours per head. Fourteen. The jail's been doing the work on Shotts' reputation for years without the drains joining in. The moor gets set alight as well, grass and woods at nearly six times the typical Scottish town's rate, in that weather.
The last bus out goes at 9.15pm. The lads up at the jail aren't the only ones stuck here.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Shotts's 99 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Sewage spills99/1003,878 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain98/100181 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires97/10079.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson92/10011.8 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Serious road collisions81/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene64/1007.1% told to improve, of the 56 food businesses inspected
- Anti-social behaviour61/1009.1 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Fly-tipping50/100
- Broadband21/1003.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 6.6% across the North Lanarkshire council area
- Air pollution4/1004.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Motherwell | 90 |
| – | Shotts | 88 |
| 2 | Coatbridge | 85 |
| 3 | Airdrie | 83 |
| 4 | Wishaw | 75 |
| 5 | Bellshill | 73 |
| 6 | Kilsyth | 61 |
| 7 | Viewpark | 53 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Cumbernauld | 34 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Shotts by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 54.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (January 2023 to December 2025) About the same: About the same as the typical Scottish town's 54.4
- 3 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 3.4 per 10,000 people, 39% lower than the typical Scottish town's 5.6
What's left on the high street
- 3 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 1 charity shop, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.9% of takeaways inspected told to improve (1 of 17) Better: 35% lower than the typical Scottish town's 9.1%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 11.4 per 100,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 3.4
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 9.15pm 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%
- 31.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,268 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 17% lower than the typical town's 1,532
North Lanarkshire council
- £1,555 Band D council tax (2026-27) Better: £98 less than the Scottish average
- 33% of North Lanarkshire council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 8% lower than Scotland's 36%
- 119 ombudsman complaints decided in 2025-26, none upheld About the same: 34.9 per 100,000 residents, about the same as Scotland's 34.7
- 87.9% of the streets checked passed as clean (2025-26) About the same: About the same as Scotland's 92.2%
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Shotts 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.