Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Thorne
Thorne
45/100Crap Score
544th crappest of 984 towns, and 24th 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
Thorne. Get on a boat.
Old market town that used to build boats. The shops have gone and the canal's the best way out.
Thorne used to build boats and still has marinas and a canal running through. There's a castle mound with no castle on it and some big peat moors. The shops in the old market centre keep closing and people speed down the side streets. Everyone wants free parking.
The old centre itself has made the Heritage at Risk register. Over half the town lives more than 400 metres from the nearest park or playground, so the kids get a peat bog. There's 1 hairdresser for the whole place. A major pollution incident put crude sewage in the water in 2023. The marinas look nice. That's the way out.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Thorne's 85 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 85% of towns.
- Deliberate fires85/10016.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions66/1002.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson62/1008.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution55/1007.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills53/100314 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour53/10015.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband49/10010.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.6% across the Doncaster council area
- Fly-tipping31/1008.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Doncaster council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain15/100116 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene14/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 64 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Swinton | 61 |
| 21 | Scawthorpe and Cusworth | 57 |
| 22 | Darton | 49 |
| 23 | New Rossington and Rossington | 45 |
| 24 | Thorne | 45 |
| 25 | Chapeltown and High Green | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.26 | Armthorpe | 36 |
| 27 | Wickersley and Bramley | 32 |
| 28 | Kirk Sandall and Edenthorpe | 17 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Thorne by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 95.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 25% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.6 per 10,000 people, 53% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 1 hairdresser, 1 charity shop, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 12) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 8.1 per 100,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.4 per 10,000 people, 1.5x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.57pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 54.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 3.5x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,496 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Doncaster council
Have a crap-off
Thorne 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.