Crap Towns / Norfolk / Dereham
Dereham
35/100Crap Score
639th crappest of 984 towns, and 6th in Norfolk. 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
Smack in the middle of nowhere.
The exact middle of Norfolk is meant to be in the Tesco car park. Sounds about right.
Dereham calls itself the Heart of Norfolk, and the actual middle of the county is meant to be in the Tesco car park. There's a windmill, a heritage railway and a water tower shaped like a mushroom. Then there's the empty shops.
What it has got is haircuts. There are 27 hairdressers and charity shops on every corner, and the old maltings have made the Heritage at Risk register. It's not shit. It's just there.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Dereham's 87 for broadband means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Broadband87/1009.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 32.7% across the Breckland council area
- Serious road collisions71/1003.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires56/1006.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Criminal damage and arson55/1007.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain50/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution36/1005.8 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills32/100108 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour30/10012.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene28/1001.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 137 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping17/1005.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Breckland council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Norwich | 84 |
| 3 | King's Lynn | 80 |
| 4 | Gorleston-on-Sea | 65 |
| 5 | Thetford | 49 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
| 10 | North Walsham | 17 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Dereham by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 73.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 38 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 18.3 per 10,000 people, 5.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 27 hairdressers, 11 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 6 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 17) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 4.8 per 100,000 people, 41% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.4 per 10,000 people, 13% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.29am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 5.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 65% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,572 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Breckland council
- £2,444 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £52 more than the English average
- 8% of Norfolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Dereham 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.