Crap Towns / County Durham / Spennymoor
Spennymoor
74/100Crap Score
Known as Spennydorm.
259th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in County Durham. 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
Spennymoor. Watch where you sit.
Old pit town. Empty shops, smashed bus shelters and dog mess in Jubilee Park.
Spennymoor was a pit town and still has the pitmen's paintings to show for it. Now it's empty shops, bookies, Greggs and pubs, smashed bus shelters, litter, fly-tipping and dog mess in Jubilee Park. Some call it Spennymanure.
Vandalism sits at over two and a half times the typical town's rate, and the grass and woods go up in flames at about eleven times. There's 1 public toilet, which round Jubilee Park explains a lot. Lloyds has gone and left a banking hub. The traffic speeds through like it can't wait to leave. Can't blame it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Spennymoor's 98 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson98/10018.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires95/10035.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour83/10022.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene64/1003.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 81 food businesses with a rating
- Rain57/100131 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping56/10010.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, County Durham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions44/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills43/100204 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband41/1003.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.6% across the County Durham council area
- Air pollution16/1005.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Stanley | 88 |
| 3 | Darlington | 80 |
| 4 | Hartlepool | 79 |
| 5 | Chester-le-Street | 77 |
| 6 | Spennymoor | 74 |
| 7 | Stockton-on-Tees | 73 |
| 8 | Peterlee | 71 |
| 9 | Durham | 70 |
| 10 | Consett | 63 |
Spennymoor by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 12 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 1 bank, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 16) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.9 per 100,000 people, 44% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 69% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Worse: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 29% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.47pm 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%
- 12.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 17% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,493 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
Spennymoor 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.