Crap Towns / Staffordshire / Tamworth
Tamworth
15/100Crap Score
Also known as Tammy and Pramworth.
837th crappest of 984 towns, and 12th in Staffordshire. 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
Got something to say about Tamworth? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Going into town? Birmingham, then.
A castle, an old Saxon capital, and a town centre that lost to the retail parks.
Tamworth was the capital of Mercia, and there's a castle to remind you, constantly. Today the shoppers have all gone to the retail parks, the town centre's struggling and even the Post Office was under threat. When locals say they're going into town, they mean Birmingham.
They used to build Reliant Robins here, which says plenty. It gets called Pramworth, and nobody in Tammy has ever come up with a decent comeback. There are more than twice the typical town's Greggs per head, and the bins keep going up in flames.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Tamworth's 74 for air pollution means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Air pollution74/1009.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping72/10015.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Tamworth council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires67/1008.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain45/100125 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions24/1001.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson22/1005.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills21/10044.3 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour18/10010.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene8/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 368 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband3/1002.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 2.1% across the Tamworth council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 8 | Biddulph | 24 |
| 9 | Stafford | 22 |
| 10 | Wombourne | 17 |
| 11 | Uttoxeter | 16 |
| 12 | Tamworth | 15 |
| 13 | Cheadle | 14 |
| 14 | Stone | 13 |
| 15 | Lichfield | 10 |
| 16 | Burntwood | 6 |
Tamworth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 74.5 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
- 23 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 3.0 per 10,000 people, 2.7x the typical town's 1.1
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 38 pubs, 44 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 4 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 60) Better: 58% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 3.9 per 100,000 people, 15% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 12 public toilets on the map (October 2026) About the same: 1.6 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 1.6
- 6 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
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%
- 14.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 6% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,522 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Tamworth council
- £2,301 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £91 less than the English average
- 10% of Staffordshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 38% lower than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Tamworth 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.