Crap Towns / Somerset / Chard
Chard
38/100Crap Score
611th crappest of 984 towns, and 7th in Somerset. 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 Chard? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
They flew a plane out. Wise.
Chard reckons powered flight started here. A Sunday bus would do.
Chard reckons powered flight started here with a steam model plane in the 1840s. No wonder, getting out's a nightmare. Convent Junction's always jammed, the relief road's been promised for decades, and on a Sunday there's no bus at all.
When it rains the drains give up. Somebody still finds something dry enough to set alight, with deliberate fires at 1.7 times the typical town's rate, and crime runs over a third above the typical town's. Locals call it Chardcore. It made lace, lads.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Chard's 71 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 71% of towns.
- Deliberate fires71/1009.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Broadband69/1004.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.3% across the Somerset council area
- Rain68/100142 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions65/1002.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson63/1008.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour40/10013.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills33/100113 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene27/1001.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 87 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping19/1006.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Somerset council area, 2023-24 to 2024-25
- Air pollution16/1005.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.5 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Taunton | 52 |
| 4 | Keynsham | 51 |
| 5 | Weston-super-Mare | 51 |
| 6 | Midsomer Norton | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.7 | Chard | 38 |
| 8 | Yeovil | 34 |
| 9 | Minehead | 33 |
| 10 | Frome | 31 |
| 11 | Wellington | 27 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Chard by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 103 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 35% higher 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: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 59% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2017
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 11) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 7.0 per 100,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 31% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 1 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 2x the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 10.52pm last bus out on a Wednesday, and none on a Sunday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 8.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 43% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,603 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Somerset council
Have a crap-off
Chard 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.