Crap Towns / Cheshire / Winsford
Winsford
52/100Crap Score
475th crappest of 984 towns, and 4th in Cheshire. 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
Got something to say about Winsford? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Sunny? Who told you that?
Salt town. The ground fell in and made lakes. The town centre's had the same treatment.
Winsford dug so much salt the ground caved in and made the Flashes, which are now lakes for sailing. That's the nice bit. The town centre is grim, there's nothing to do, and locals moan about yobs and broken glass. Nobody calls it Sunny Winsford and means it.
There are nearly six times as many deliberate fires as in the typical town, and the bins go up nearly thirteen times as often. The evening buses run at about a fifth of the typical town's, so once you're in, you're in.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Winsford's 94 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Deliberate fires94/10032.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene75/1004.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 140 food businesses with a rating
- Rain70/100145 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills59/100399 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour49/10010.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson44/1006.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions38/1002.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping34/1008.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Cheshire West and Chester council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband32/1002.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 11.7% across the Cheshire West and Chester council area
- Air pollution29/1006.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Crewe | 70 |
| 2 | Northwich | 69 |
| 3 | Widnes | 63 |
| 4 | Winsford | 52 |
| 5 | Chester | 49 |
| 6 | Ellesmere Port | 49 |
| 7 | Warrington | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Runcorn | 39 |
| 9 | Middlewich | 39 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Winsford by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 82.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 9% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 3 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 74% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 11 pubs, 14 hairdressers, 8 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 3 vape shops, 2 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 31) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 44% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.31pm 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%
- 2.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 86% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,481 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Cheshire West and Chester council
- £2,517 Band D council tax (2026-27) Worse: £125 more than the English average
- 6% of Cheshire West and Chester council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 63% lower than England's 16%
- 16 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Winsford 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.