Crap Towns / Gloucestershire / Cam
Cam
20/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 20. 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
Cam. Missed the train again.
Cam makes the felt for tennis balls. Its station car park is full before you get there.
Cam makes the felt that goes on tennis balls. That's the big claim to fame, and it's shit. The station car park's full so early people miss the train.
The sewers overflow for seven times as long as the typical town's, so the river's got that going for it. There's no public park on the map, no public pool, and the last bus goes at 7.42pm. Nice view from Cam Peak, mind. You'll have time to walk up it, because the bus has gone.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Cam's 93 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Sewage spills93/1001,939 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband74/1008.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.2% across the Stroud council area
- Rain63/100136 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping38/1008.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Stroud council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene37/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 17 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution24/1006.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour20/10010.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires16/1002.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions11/1001.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson6/1003.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Brockworth | 31 |
| 11 | Yate | 31 |
| 12 | Stoke Gifford | 30 |
| 13 | Churchdown | 24 |
| 14 | Frampton Cotterell and Winterbourne | 21 |
| – | Cam | 20 |
| 15 | Bradley Stoke | 6 |
| 16 | Bishop's Cleeve | 6 |
| 17 | Thornbury | 2 |
Cam by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 45.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 40% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 646 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 836 per 10,000 people, 245.9x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs, 1 hairdresser on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 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
- 7.42pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.8% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 0.5%
- 41.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space, and OS maps no public park here Worse: 2.7x 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
Stroud council
- £2,491 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £99 more than the English average
- 26% of Gloucestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.6x England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Cam 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.