Crap Towns / Devon / Braunton
Braunton
21/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 21. 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 Braunton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Village, they insist. Traffic says town.
Says it's England's biggest village. The sewage spills are pretty big too.
Braunton reckons it's the biggest village in England and will argue it all night. Meanwhile the Caen Street crossroads is jammed every summer with surfboards on roofs, and you can't get a takeaway delivered.
Only 7.5% of premises can get gigabit, so the surf report loads about as fast as the traffic moves. The storm overflows nearby spill for nearly seven times as long per head as the typical town's, and the public pool's shut for good, so it's that sea or nothing. Lovely dunes. Get there early, leave earlier.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Braunton's 100 for broadband means it's crapper than 100% of towns.
- Broadband100/10092.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 39.1% across the North Devon council area
- Sewage spills93/1001,902 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain79/100155 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene74/1005.7% rated 0 to 2, of the 53 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson22/1005.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping18/1006.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires16/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions5/1000.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour5/1006.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution1/1002.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| – | Braunton | 21 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Braunton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 34.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 54% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 3.0 per 10,000 people, 12% lower than the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 6 pubs, 2 hairdressers, 2 charity shops on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 6% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.02am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 19.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 27% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,602 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Devon council
Have a crap-off
Braunton 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.