Crap Towns / Kent / Ashford
Ashford
55/100Crap Score
Known as Gashford.
439th crappest of 984 towns, and 19th in Kent. 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 Ashford? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Even the Eurostar won't stop.
Calls itself International. The Eurostar doesn't even stop any more.
Ashford has a station called International and the Eurostar doesn't stop there any more. The shoppers go to the outlet, and the town centre's been gutted and handed to barbers and vape shops. Locals call it Trashford. The new estates keep spreading across the fields as if something's drawing people in, and nobody can work out what.
The best thing about it is the fast train to London, and that costs a bloody fortune. Come back late and the last bus went at 10.14pm. The roadworks never end, and they've still not got round to the back roads, over a third of which Kent should have looked at for repairs. There have been 16 serious pollution incidents in or round the town since 2016. The sunshine adds up to 1,711 hours a year, all of it lighting up a vape shop.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ashford's 74 for broadband means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Broadband74/1006.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.0% across the Ashford council area
- Criminal damage and arson74/1008.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions63/1002.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour60/10016.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution56/1008.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills48/100257 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Fly-tipping42/1009.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Ashford council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene37/1002.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 396 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires33/1004.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain33/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | Faversham | 64 |
| 16 | Margate | 63 |
| 17 | Swanley | 59 |
| 18 | Whitstable | 56 |
| 19 | Ashford | 55 |
| 20 | Minster | 54 |
| 21 | Snodland | 50 |
| 22 | Swanscombe | 48 |
| 23 | Broadstairs | 47 |
Ashford by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 85.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 12% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 9 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 68% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 16 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 21 pubs, 22 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 5 vape shops, 10 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.8% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 44) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 1.2 per 100,000 people, 65% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 23 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.8 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 6 public swimming pools open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.14pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 6.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 59% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,711 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 12% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Ashford council
Have a crap-off
Ashford 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.