Crap Towns / Tyne and Wear / Wallsend
Wallsend
97/100Crap Score
29th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Tyne and Wear. 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
Wallsend. The Romans gave up here too.
The Romans finished their wall here and went home. Sensible lads.
Wallsend is where the Roman wall stops, and you can see why they didn't build any further. The high street and shopping centre are neglected, the shops are empty and what's left is vape shops, bookies and Greggs. The shutters have nice paintings of the old shipyards on them, so the town looks best when it's shut.
The Metro signs are in Latin, which is a lot of effort to tell people they've arrived in Wallsend. The sewers nearby overflow for about eight times as long as the typical town's, and the bins go up in flames at about eight times too. Barclays and Lloyds have both gone. Only Newcastle's crapper in Tyne and Wear. The Romans had the right idea.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Wallsend's 95 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 95% of towns.
- Sewage spills95/1002,210 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires93/10026.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson92/10011.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour88/10025.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping81/10019.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Tyneside council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene77/1004.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 209 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions69/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution66/10012.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain30/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Broadband24/1004.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.9% across the North Tyneside council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newcastle upon Tyne | 99 |
| 2 | Wallsend | 97 |
| 3 | South Shields | 94 |
| 4 | Blaydon | 92 |
| 5 | Gateshead | 90 |
| 6 | Tynemouth | 89 |
| 7 | Sunderland | 87 |
| 8 | Jarrow | 82 |
| 9 | Hebburn | 75 |
Wallsend by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 108 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 42% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 11 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.4 per 10,000 people, 29% 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
- 23 pubs, 40 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 8 bookmakers, 6 vape shops, 3 banks, 4 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.8% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (5 of 51) Worse: 2.5x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 4.4 per 100,000 people, 29% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 13 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.9 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.26am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 0.5%
- 6.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 57% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,524 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Tyneside council
- £2,462 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £70 more than the English average
- 8% of North Tyneside council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- 16 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Wallsend 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.