Crap Towns / Kent / Dover
Dover
72/100Crap Score
275th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th in Kent. 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 Dover? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Everyone's just passing through, mate
Famous white cliffs and a castle. Then the town, which is lorries and boarded-up shops.
Dover's got the White Cliffs, a castle and the ferries to France, and the town gets nothing out of any of them. The lorries queue through it, the town centre's run down and the vandals are at it, with criminal damage at twice the typical town's rate. Dovorians would rather slag off Folkestone. Can't think why.
Banks have announced 5 branch closures since 2022, over four times the typical town's rate per head. There are 4 hairdressers for the whole town. Not a public pool in town, so it's the Channel or nothing.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Dover's 96 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 96% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson96/10014.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour89/10026.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions86/1003.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband85/10014.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.7% across the Dover council area
- Deliberate fires54/1005.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain44/100125 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene43/1002.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 271 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution42/1007.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping33/1008.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Dover council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills16/10026.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Canterbury | 80 |
| 5 | Northfleet | 75 |
| 6 | Sittingbourne | 74 |
| 7 | Gravesend | 73 |
| 8 | Dover | 72 |
| 9 | Rochester | 72 |
| 10 | Maidstone | 69 |
| 11 | Gillingham | 69 |
| 12 | Ramsgate | 67 |
Dover by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 129 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 76.2
- 15 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.1 per 10,000 people, 21% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 22 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 1 vape shop, 6 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 40) Better: 38% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 5 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 13.8 per 100,000 people, 4.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 11 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.0 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.31am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 50% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,906 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 24% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Dover council
Have a crap-off
Dover 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.