Crap Towns / Dorset / Blandford Forum
Blandford Forum
8/100Crap Score
901st crappest of 984 towns, and 12th in Dorset. 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
Pretty. Now try parking.
Lovely Georgian centre and a fly that bites like a bastard. There's sod all to do beyond going for a walk.
Blandford's annoyingly nice to look at. Georgian fronts, river walk, all that. Then the Blandford fly has a go at your legs. The town centre is barbers, kebabs and vape shops, nearly six times the typical town's vape shops per head. You'll leave with a fresh fade and a full belly.
HSBC, Lloyds and NatWest have all shut their branches, and the last bus out goes at 7.49pm. Dorset charges £2,765 for a Band D home, and the ombudsman keeps finding against the council anyway. There's nothing to do but go for another walk. That's the day.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Blandford Forum's 74 for broadband means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Broadband74/1007.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 23.3% across the Dorset council area
- Anti-social behaviour55/10015.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain50/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson40/1006.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene27/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 88 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions18/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution17/1005.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills17/10031.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires10/1002.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Fly-tipping8/1004.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Dorset council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Christchurch | 22 |
| 7 | West Moors | 20 |
| 8 | Sherborne | 19 |
| 9 | Wimborne Minster | 19 |
| 10 | Corfe Mullen | 14 |
| 11 | Ferndown | 10 |
| 12 | Blandford Forum | 8 |
| 13 | Gillingham | 8 |
| 14 | Verwood | 2 |
Blandford Forum by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 55.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 28% lower 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 Worse: 7.6 per 10,000 people, 2.2x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 8 pubs, 9 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 2 vape shops, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 14) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 25.4 per 100,000 people, 7.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.5 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 2.4x the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 7.49pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 50% 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
Dorset council
Have a crap-off
Blandford Forum 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.