Crap Towns / Widnes / Pollution incidents
How often does Widnes get polluted?
6 serious pollution incidents have been recorded in Widnes or within 1 km of it since 2016, the joint 184th most of the 948 English towns that have had one. The most recent came in October 2025 and put food and drink in the water.
| When | What | Where | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| October 2025 | Food and drink | In the water | Significant |
| July 2023 | Algae | In the water | Significant |
| June 2022 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| August 2017 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| August 2017 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| September 2016 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| Town | Distance | Serious incidents since 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Liverpool | 13.2 km | 14 |
| Warrington | 10.1 km | 9 |
| Newton-le-Willows | 11.4 km | 6 |
| Widnes | – | 6 |
| St Helens | 8.5 km | 4 |
| Huyton with Roby | 9.5 km | 3 |
| Prescot | 6.3 km | 3 |
| Frodsham | 9.0 km | 2 |
| Runcorn | 5.6 km | 2 |
| Haydock | 11.7 km | 1 |
| Helsby | 11.5 km | 1 |