Crap Towns / Ashford / Pollution incidents
How often does Ashford get polluted?
16 serious pollution incidents have been recorded in Ashford or within 1 km of it since 2016, the joint 43rd most of the 948 English towns that have had one. 1 was major, the worst kind. The most recent came in September 2025 and put commercial waste, contaminated building rubble, contaminated soil and household waste on the land. Crude sewage turned up in 4 of them.
| When | What | Where | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2025 | Commercial waste, contaminated building rubble, contaminated soil and household waste | On the land | Significant |
| June 2025 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| December 2024 | Commercial waste, contaminated building rubble and household waste | On the land | Significant |
| August 2024 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| August 2024 | Crude sewage | In the water | Significant |
| December 2023 | Crude sewage | On the land | Significant |
| March 2023 | Fuel oil | In the water | Significant |
| January 2021 | Soil and clay | In the water | Significant |
| September 2020 | Firefighting run-off and smoke | On the land and in the air | Major |
| July 2020 | Odour | In the air | Significant |
| August 2018 | Commercial waste | On the land | Significant |
| June 2018 | Dust | In the air | Significant |
| May 2018 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| May 2017 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| August 2016 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| June 2016 | An unidentified pollutant | In the water | Significant |
| Town | Distance | Serious incidents since 2016 |
|---|---|---|
| Ashford | – | 16 |
| Sittingbourne | 24.7 km | 13 |
| Canterbury | 21.0 km | 7 |
| Folkestone | 19.1 km | 3 |
| Faversham | 19.1 km | 2 |
| Littlestone-on-Sea | 19.5 km | 2 |
| Staplehurst | 22.9 km | 2 |
| Aylesham | 24.7 km | 1 |
| Hythe | 16.0 km | 1 |
| Tenterden | 14.8 km | 1 |