Crap Towns / Essex / Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock
Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock
64/100Crap Score
355th crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Essex. 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
Built in a quarry. Feels like it.
Houses in an old chalk pit, next to a giant shopping centre. Your weekend's sorted, like it or not.
Chafford Hundred was built in an old chalk pit next to a giant shopping centre, and the whole place is basically its car park. The station footbridge goes straight into the shops, which tells you who it was built for. At Christmas you can't get home for people doing their shopping on your doorstep, and any trouble at the Dartford Crossing and nobody moves.
You can taste it, too. The nitrogen dioxide here is nearly twice the typical town's. The shoplifters and the car thieves are flat out, which is what happens when you build an estate round a car park. Fair play, nearly everyone lives within a short walk of a park. They had to put something in the bottom of the quarry.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock's 97 for air pollution means it's crapper than 97% of towns.
- Air pollution97/10015.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour80/10014.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson79/1009.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping74/10015.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Thurrock council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions68/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires64/1007.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband52/1009.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 7.2% across the Thurrock council area
- Food hygiene14/1001.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 187 food businesses with a rating
- Sewage spills7/1001.8 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain0/100106 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Basildon | 86 |
| 2 | Tilbury | 83 |
| 3 | Waltham Abbey | 69 |
| 4 | Clacton-on-Sea | 68 |
| 5 | Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock | 64 |
| 6 | Chadwell St Mary | 62 |
| 7 | Southend-on-Sea | 55 |
| 8 | Colchester | 55 |
| 9 | Wickford | 52 |
Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 132 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 76.2
- 5 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 38% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 5 hairdressers, 1 bookmaker, 3 banks, 3 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 27) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 5 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 31% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.18am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 0.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 94% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,650 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 8% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Thurrock council
Have a crap-off
Chafford Hundred and West Thurrock 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.