Crap Towns / Hertfordshire / Waltham Cross
Waltham Cross
78/100Crap Score
220th crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in Hertfordshire. 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
It's a precinct.
A tired old shopping precinct full of bookies and charity shops, and a data centre going up.
Waltham Cross is the crappest town in Hertfordshire, and the precinct looks it. Nobody's touched it since it was built, and it's bookies, charity shops and a Greggs, with the charity shops at more than five times the typical town's rate per head. The best thing about it is the train into London.
Halifax, HSBC and NatWest have each shut a branch, more than seven times the typical town's rate for a place this size. Meanwhile there's a whopping great data centre going up nearby. The computers are getting better premises than the shoppers.
Anti-social behaviour comes in at twice the typical town's rate, and the pickpockets are flat out. The local yobs have taken to setting fire to the grass, too. There's no public pool, but the buses run all night, so you can leave whenever you like.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Waltham Cross's 94 for air pollution means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Air pollution94/10014.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour94/10029.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires80/10013.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions80/1003.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband79/10016.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 7.9% across the Broxbourne council area
- Fly-tipping65/10013.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Broxbourne council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson54/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene43/1002.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 95 food businesses with a rating
- Rain15/100115 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Waltham Cross | 78 |
| 2 | Hatfield | 67 |
| 3 | Borehamwood | 50 |
| 4 | Hemel Hempstead | 50 |
| 5 | Stevenage | 50 |
| 6 | Baldock | 45 |
| 7 | Potters Bar | 43 |
| 8 | Bushey | 42 |
| 9 | Welwyn Garden City | 42 |
Waltham Cross by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 107 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 8 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.7 per 10,000 people, 6.1x the typical town's 1.1
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2022
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 20) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 25.1 per 100,000 people, 7.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher 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
- All night buses on a Wednesday Better: The typical town's last bus goes at 12.14am
- 1.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 4.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 70% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,615 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 5% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Broxbourne council
- £2,306 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £86 less than the English average
- 18% of Hertfordshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 13% higher than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Waltham Cross 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.