Crap Towns / Greater Manchester / Westhoughton
Westhoughton
68/100Crap Score
313th crappest of 984 towns, and 47th in Greater Manchester. 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
They chopped the cow's head off
A cow got its head stuck in a gate, so the farmer took the head off to save the gate. That's Howfen.
Westhoughton is Howfen to anyone who lives there, and they're Keawyeds, cow heads, because a farmer once cut a cow's head off rather than break his gate. They've put a statue up to it. Proud of it, they are. Since then it's new estates going up faster than the roads, and lights on Cricketers Way that never change.
You get rain on 171 days a year. Bolton council records twice the typical council's fly-tipping, and 2 of the 15 takeaways with a rating come in at 0 to 2 for hygiene. The pork pasties are still good.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Westhoughton's 92 for rain means it's crapper than 92% of towns.
- Rain92/100171 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping90/10023.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bolton council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires76/10011.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills73/100673 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson65/1008.1 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Air pollution60/1009.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene55/1002.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 104 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour52/10015.5 per 1,000 people a year, July 2023 to June 2026
- Serious road collisions16/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband4/1000.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.0% across the Bolton council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 43 | Bredbury and Woodley | 72 |
| 44 | Shaw | 72 |
| 45 | Droylsden | 70 |
| 46 | Tyldesley | 68 |
| 47 | Westhoughton | 68 |
| 48 | Lees | 67 |
| 49 | Ramsbottom | 65 |
| 50 | Marple | 64 |
| 51 | Golborne | 62 |
Westhoughton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 96.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (July 2023 to June 2026) Worse: 27% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.5 per 10,000 people, 85% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 9 pubs, 24 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 13.3% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 15) Worse: 3.3x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.6 per 100,000 people, 35% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.8 per 10,000 people, 13% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.02am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 11.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 26% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,394 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 9% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Bolton council
Have a crap-off
Westhoughton 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.