Crap Towns / Lincolnshire / Skegness
Skegness
80/100Crap Score
194th crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Lincolnshire. 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
Chips in a gale, anyone?
Skeggy has a beach, a pier and arcades. It also has more vandals and bother than most.
Skegness has the beach, the pier, the arcades and the Jolly Fisherman telling you it's so bracing, which means bloody freezing. Skeg Vegas, they call it, which is a lot to hang on some slot machines and a donkey ride. Out of season the shops shut and there's nothing for the local kids to do, and you can tell.
Anti-social behaviour is running at 3 times the typical town's rate, vandalism and crime at more than double, and serious crashes at twice the typical town's too, so even the drive home is a gamble. The sea is rated Excellent, which makes it the one thing in Skeggy nobody's managed to wreck. It's drier and sunnier than the typical town as well. Still bracing, mind.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Skegness's 99 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour99/10042.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson98/10016.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions95/1004.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband79/1004.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 33.0% across the East Lindsey council area
- Deliberate fires64/1008.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping55/10010.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Lindsey council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills34/100126 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Air pollution27/1005.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene27/1001.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 361 food businesses with a rating
- Rain11/100114 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston | 94 |
| 2 | Grimsby | 88 |
| 3 | Gainsborough | 87 |
| 4 | Lincoln | 81 |
| 5 | Skegness | 80 |
| 6 | Scunthorpe | 73 |
| 7 | Louth | 69 |
| 8 | Cleethorpes | 68 |
| 9 | Spalding | 64 |
Skegness by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 171 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 76.2
- 629 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 304 per 10,000 people, 89.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2022
- Excellent Skegness's bathing water rating, 2025
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 31 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 4 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 7 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 63) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.8 per 100,000 people, 41% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 11 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.3 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open Better: 1.9 per 10,000 people, 2.7x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.58pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 44.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.9x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,637 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 7% higher than the typical town's 1,532
East Lindsey council
- £2,276 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £116 less than the English average
- 21% of Lincolnshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 31% higher than England's 16%
- 3 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Skegness 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.