Crap Towns / Lancashire / Whitworth
Whitworth
97/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 97. 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
Stuck on Market Street.
A long road up a valley, and they've dug it up.
Whitworth is basically a long road up a valley with houses either side. Dig that road up, as they have on Market Street, and the whole place grinds to a halt, while everyone else belts down Tonacliffe Road to dodge it. You can't get a doctor or a dentist.
It rains on 177 days a year, nearly 1,500 mm of it, and the sun manages 1,283 hours. Anti-social behaviour is running at two and a half times the typical town's rate, and the outdoor fires go up nearly seven times as often, which in that weather takes real commitment. There are 2 pubs. Healey Dell's lovely.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Whitworth's 97 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour97/10035.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain96/100177 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires86/10018.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions83/1003.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene77/1006.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 45 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping69/10015.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Rossendale council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills69/100571 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson60/1007.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband43/1007.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 7.1% across the Rossendale council area
- Air pollution34/1007.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Preston | 98 |
| 10 | Nelson | 98 |
| 11 | Rawtenstall | 97 |
| 12 | Brierfield | 97 |
| – | Whitworth | 97 |
| 13 | Morecambe | 97 |
| 14 | Haslingden | 96 |
| 15 | Great Harwood | 96 |
| 16 | Oswaldtwistle | 95 |
Whitworth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 64.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 15% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of dog fouling on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.5 per 10,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.10pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 23.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 48% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,283 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Worse: 16% lower than the typical town's 1,532
Rossendale council
Have a crap-off
Whitworth 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.