Crap Towns / Angus / Arbroath
Arbroath
60/100Crap Score
Locals are the Red Lichties.
398th crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in Angus. 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 Arbroath? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Arbroath. Hold on to your smokie.
Smokies, the Declaration of Arbroath and a football ground so close to the sea the wind plays for the away side.
Arbroath wrote the Declaration of Arbroath, smokes the best haddock in Scotland and once won a Scottish Cup tie thirty-six nil. That was 1885. The town has been coasting on it ever since. Gayfield sits right on the front, the wind comes straight through the stand, and they call it Costa del Gayfield because if you don't laugh you'd greet.
Then you eat out. The food businesses get told to improve at twice the typical Scottish town's rate and the takeaways at more than twice, so the gull that nicks your chips is doing you a favour. It's the crappest town in Angus, and Montrose will never let it go.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Arbroath's 96 for broadband means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Broadband96/10020.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 32.7% across the Angus council area
- Serious road collisions93/1002.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene86/10011.2% told to improve, of the 187 food businesses inspected
- Fly-tipping50/100
- Criminal damage and arson48/1006.9 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Rain46/100126 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour41/1007.2 per 1,000 people a year, January 2023 to December 2025
- Deliberate fires36/10014.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills12/10011.1 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2025
- Air pollution1/1003.6 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arbroath | 60 |
| 2 | Montrose | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.3 | Forfar | 37 |
| 4 | Carnoustie | 19 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Arbroath by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 56.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (January 2023 to December 2025) About the same: About the same as the typical Scottish town's 54.4
- 12 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.1 per 10,000 people, 7.3x the typical Scottish town's 0.7
- Excellent Arbroath (West Links)'s bathing water rating, 2025
What's left on the high street
- 17 pubs, 28 hairdressers, 7 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 2 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 20.7% of takeaways inspected told to improve (6 of 29) Worse: 2.3x the typical Scottish town's 9.1%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 8.5 per 100,000 people, 2.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 5.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 66% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,570 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Angus council
- £1,599 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £54 less than the Scottish average
- 33% of Angus council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 8% lower than Scotland's 36%
- 28 ombudsman complaints decided in 2025-26, none upheld Better: 24.5 per 100,000 residents, 29% lower than Scotland's 34.7
- 96.0% of the streets checked passed as clean (2025-26) About the same: About the same as Scotland's 92.2%
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Arbroath 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.