Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Swinton
Swinton
61/100Crap Score
380th crappest of 984 towns, and 20th in South Yorkshire. 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
Do the Mile. Regret the Mile.
An old pottery town with a famous pub crawl and a lot of fly-tipping.
Swinton used to make posh pottery and has one old kiln left to show for it. Its other claim to fame is the Swinton Mile, a pub crawl. Locals call it Swine Town. The big moan is people parking like idiots on Crown Street.
There's been 16 serious pollution incidents in or near Swinton since 2016, the latest crude sewage in the water, and the storm overflows spill for over five times as long as the typical town's. There's 7 pubs for the Mile and 1 public toilet, which on a pub crawl is a shocking oversight. Swine Town's earned it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Swinton's 89 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 89% of towns.
- Sewage spills89/1001,422 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping84/10020.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Rotherham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution82/10010.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires77/10011.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene62/1003.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 86 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson55/1007.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour29/10011.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions27/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Rain19/100117 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband17/1004.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.3% across the Rotherham council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 16 | Dunscroft and Hatfield | 76 |
| 17 | Adwick le Street | 73 |
| 18 | Warmsworth | 70 |
| 19 | Maltby | 65 |
| 20 | Swinton | 61 |
| 21 | Scawthorpe and Cusworth | 57 |
| 22 | Darton | 49 |
| 23 | New Rossington and Rossington | 45 |
| 24 | Thorne | 45 |
Swinton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 77.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 8 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.0 per 10,000 people, 47% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 16 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 7 pubs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 15) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 63% lower 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
- 11.56pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- Under 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: Far lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 9.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,527 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Rotherham council
- £2,382 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £10 less than the English average
- 9% of Rotherham council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 44% lower than England's 16%
- 2 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Swinton 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.