Crap Towns / Berkshire / Caversham
Caversham
3/100Crap Score
953rd crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Berkshire. 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
Caversham. It's Reading, mate.
Caversham reckons it's a village. It's the bit of Reading over the river, with worse bridges.
Caversham is the bit of Reading over the Thames that reckons it isn't Reading. It's leafy, crime's low and Caversham Heights is dead posh. Getting over the bridges at rush hour takes forever, which is the only time anyone round here admits they're going to Reading.
And for somewhere this up itself, a lot of its kitchens are minging. Over twice the typical town's share of food businesses are rated 0 to 2, and for takeaways it's nearly four times. Gigabit broadband reaches nearly every house, so you can order a dodgy dinner from Reading instead.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Caversham's 81 for food hygiene means it's crapper than 81% of towns.
- Food hygiene81/1005.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 110 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution66/1009.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping40/1009.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Reading council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires26/100
- Rain19/100117 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills8/1004.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour6/1004.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions5/1001.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson4/1003.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband1/1000.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 3.6% across the Reading council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Windsor | 21 |
| 6 | Thatcham | 17 |
| 7 | Bracknell | 7 |
| 8 | Maidenhead | 6 |
| 9 | Wokingham | 5 |
| 10 | Caversham | 3 |
| 11 | Crowthorne | 2 |
| 12 | Sandhurst | 1 |
| 13 | Woodley | 1 |
Caversham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 44.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 41% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 45 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 13.6 per 10,000 people, 15.1x the typical town's 0.9
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 10 pubs, 17 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 vape shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 15.4% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (2 of 13) Worse: 3.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.42am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later 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%
- 27.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,581 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Reading council
Have a crap-off
Caversham 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.