Crap Towns / West Sussex / Chichester
Chichester
82/100Crap Score
Known as Chi, or Chitty.
180th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in West Sussex. 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
Roman walls, no phone signal
Cathedral, Roman walls and charity shops. And a lot more trouble than the tourist leaflet lets on.
Chichester thinks it's very refined, with its cathedral, its Roman walls and its theatre crowd. Then you look at it properly. Anti-social behaviour is through the roof, and shoplifting sits at over three times the typical town's rate, so not everyone in Chi is in town for the theatre. The bypass is jammed solid and the roads are worse than most for serious crashes.
The storm overflows round the city spilled for six times as long as the typical town's, and the harbour gets its share. You can't get a phone signal in the centre and the nightlife's dead. It does get 1,762 hours of sunshine a year, so you can watch your bike get nicked in good light.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Chichester's 96 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Serious road collisions96/1005.2 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour96/10032.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband91/10013.6% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 32.7% across the Chichester council area
- Sewage spills91/1001,642 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson90/10011.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires46/100
- Air pollution34/1007.3 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain33/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Fly-tipping23/1006.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Chichester council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Food hygiene15/1001.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 308 food businesses with a rating
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Littlehampton | 85 |
| 2 | Chichester | 82 |
| 3 | Crawley | 67 |
| 4 | Wick | 61 |
| 5 | Shoreham-by-Sea | 61 |
| 6 | Barnham | 60 |
| 7 | Southwick | 55 |
| 8 | Bognor Regis | 53 |
| 9 | East Grinstead | 45 |
Chichester by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 123 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 26 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 8.2 per 10,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2019
What's left on the high street
- 22 pubs, 12 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 9 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 21) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Better: 3.2 per 100,000 people, 6% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 19 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 6.0 per 10,000 people, 3.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- All night buses on a Wednesday Better: The typical town's last bus goes at 12.14am
- 1.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 9.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 37% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,762 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 15% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Chichester council
- £2,470 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £78 more than the English average
- 19% of West Sussex County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 19% higher than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Chichester 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.