Crap Towns / Greater London / Barking and Dagenham
Barking and Dagenham
77/100Crap Score
232nd crappest of 984 towns, and 25th in Greater London. 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
Sounds like a dodgy firm of solicitors.
Ford built cars here for donkey's years. Now the main thing turning up on the streets is somebody else's sofa.
Dagenham's had a Ford plant since before the war and an argument about whether it's Essex for just as long. Barking town centre's been left to fend for itself, and down at Riverside they built a load of flats and forgot the shops. Locals call Dagenham the Nam.
Ford built cars here. The borough now turns out mattresses: the council logs more than twice the typical council's fly-tipping, and most of it gets dumped on the footpaths. The air has twice the typical town's nitrogen dioxide. 9.1% of the food places have a low hygiene rating, nearly four times the typical town's share, and there are 18 pubs for the whole borough. The council's shut 4 libraries since 2010, and 4 swimming pools have gone too. Hang on to your phone.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Barking and Dagenham's 98 for air pollution means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Air pollution98/10016.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 9.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene98/1009.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 1,006 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping86/10023.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Barking and Dagenham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour77/10020.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires64/100
- Serious road collisions58/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson38/1006.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband23/1004.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 4.7% across the Barking and Dagenham council area
- Sewage spills17/10031.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain2/100107 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Barnet | 83 |
| 22 | Waltham Forest | 82 |
| 23 | Kensington and Chelsea | 79 |
| 24 | Redbridge | 77 |
| 25 | Barking and Dagenham | 77 |
| 26 | Kingston upon Thames | 73 |
| 27 | Havering | 72 |
| 28 | Richmond upon Thames | 68 |
| 29 | Harrow | 67 |
Barking and Dagenham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 91.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 20% 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: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 88% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 24 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 18 pubs, 60 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 29 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 6 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 9.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (20 of 202) Worse: 2.5x the typical town's 4.0%
- 7 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 3.2 per 100,000 people, 6% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 libraries shut for good since 2010: Markyate (2012), Wantz (2012), Castle Green (2013) and Rush Green (2013)
- 15 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.7 per 10,000 people, 56% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 7 public swimming pools open; 4 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.3 per 10,000 people, 57% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 6 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.38am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later 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%
- 21.1% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 36% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,586 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Barking and Dagenham council
Have a crap-off
Barking and Dagenham 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.