Crap Towns / South Yorkshire / Wombwell
Wombwell
91/100Crap Score
89th crappest of 984 towns, and 9th in South Yorkshire. 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
Not a lot left.
An old pit town that lost the dogs and the speedway. Even the public pools have gone.
Wombwell had a pit, greyhound racing and speedway. All gone. Now it's vape shops and Greggs, the Dove floods, people speed down Wells Lane and the school run parks across everyone's drives. The Wellers are still playing, which is something.
The local yobs set the grass alight at about fifteen times the typical town's rate, and deliberate fires overall run at over eight times. The storm drains nearby chuck out sewage for nearly four times as long as the typical town's. Both swimming pools have shut. There's 2 Greggs, about four times the typical town's per head, so at least the pasties survived.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Wombwell's 97 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Deliberate fires97/10047.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills83/1001,032 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Fly-tipping83/10020.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Barnsley council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene74/1004.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 84 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson73/1008.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions71/1003.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution67/1009.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour65/10017.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband35/1004.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 8.7% across the Barnsley council area
- Rain14/100115 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Rawmarsh | 93 |
| 6 | Mexborough | 92 |
| 7 | Dinnington | 92 |
| 8 | Bentley | 91 |
| 9 | Wombwell | 91 |
| 10 | Doncaster | 88 |
| 11 | Hoyland | 88 |
| 12 | Wath upon Dearne | 85 |
| 13 | Swallownest and Aston | 80 |
Wombwell by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 79.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 30 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 17.9 per 10,000 people, 5.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 5 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 14 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 1 bank, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 10.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 19) Worse: 2.6x the typical town's 4.0%
- None public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.55pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier 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%
- 14.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space About the same: About the same as the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,527 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Barnsley council
Have a crap-off
Wombwell 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.