Crap Towns / Kent / Bearsted
Bearsted
15/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 15. 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 Bearsted? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Annoyingly bloody nice
Cricket on the green, a village fayre, and people furious about parking.
Bearsted is a pretty village with a cricket green, a fayre and nothing much wrong with it, which is annoying. Crime's well under half the typical town's and next to nobody sets fire to anything. The worst thing going on is someone parking on a corner. The last bus pulls out at 7.12pm and on a Sunday there isn't one, not that anyone wants to leave. Maidstone is just down the road, so they know exactly how lucky they are.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Bearsted's 74 for air pollution means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Air pollution74/1009.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping70/10015.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Maidstone council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband67/1006.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.5% across the Maidstone council area
- Sewage spills47/100248 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Serious road collisions27/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene27/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 37 food businesses with a rating
- Rain15/100115 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour5/1006.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson1/1002.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires0/1000.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Hythe | 44 |
| 25 | Tonbridge | 43 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.26 | Royal Tunbridge Wells | 39 |
| 27 | Larkfield | 38 |
| 28 | Deal | 36 |
| 29 | Herne | 32 |
| 30 | Sevenoaks | 27 |
| – | Bearsted | 15 |
| 31 | Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley | 10 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Bearsted by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 29.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 61% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 65% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 2 hairdressers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 7.12pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 35.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.3x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,691 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 10% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Maidstone council
Have a crap-off
Bearsted 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.