Crap Towns / Devon / Brixham
Brixham
23/100Crap Score
754th crappest of 984 towns, and 14th in Devon. 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
It's a fishing harbour, you plonkers
A fishing harbour full of second homes whose owners moan about the fishing.
Brixham is a proper fishing town that's been flogged off as holiday lets. The second-homers buy a harbour view, then moan the trawlers start too early. It's a fishing harbour, you plonkers. Whole streets sit dark all winter, and Torbay's got twice England's share of homes stood empty, so it's not your imagination.
There are two and a half times the typical town's pubs per head, which is how the trawlermen cope. The tap water went bad a while back. Cowtown and Fishtown still hate each other. Some things never change.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Brixham's 83 for broadband means it's crapper than 83% of towns.
- Broadband83/10016.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 12.2% across the Torbay council area
- Food hygiene74/1004.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 113 food businesses with a rating
- Rain64/100137 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills46/100237 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson44/1006.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping33/1008.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Torbay council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions23/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour17/1009.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires9/1002.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution6/1003.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Brixham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 53.2 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 30% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 12 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.7 per 10,000 people, 2x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
- 4 of 4 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 22 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 1 vape shop, 1 bank 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%
- 1 banking hub opened here
- 5 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.8 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.1 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.21am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x 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%
- 1,780 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 16% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Torbay council
Have a crap-off
Brixham 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.