Crap Towns / Kent / Folkestone
Folkestone
65/100Crap Score
346th crappest of 984 towns, and 13th 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Lovely Harbour Arm. Then the ring road.
The Harbour Arm's lovely. The ring road and the high street are not.
Folkestone's done up the Harbour Arm, the Leas is a cracking clifftop walk, and the Old High Street calls itself a Creative Quarter. Then there's the long high street full of empty shops, a ring road through the middle, a grim bus station and gulls that'll nick your lunch. Dover gets all the stick round here. Folkestone could do with a look in the mirror.
The vandals are busier than most and drug offences run at over twice the typical town's rate. It's got 5 buildings on the Heritage at Risk register, and the fly-tippers struck 2,200 times across the council area in 2024-25. It's meant to be on the up. Somebody tell the high street.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Folkestone's 87 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 87% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson87/10010.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband85/10014.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.8% across the Folkestone and Hythe council area
- Anti-social behaviour77/10020.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping76/10016.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Folkestone and Hythe council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions66/1002.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution43/1007.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Sewage spills39/100168 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Rain31/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene14/1001.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 435 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires9/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Rochester | 72 |
| 10 | Maidstone | 69 |
| 11 | Gillingham | 69 |
| 12 | Ramsgate | 67 |
| 13 | Folkestone | 65 |
| 14 | Herne Bay | 64 |
| 15 | Faversham | 64 |
| 16 | Margate | 63 |
| 17 | Swanley | 59 |
Folkestone 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
- 92 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 17.7 per 10,000 people, 19.7x the typical town's 0.9
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2022
- 1 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 32 pubs, 46 hairdressers, 9 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 6 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 55) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 3.8 per 100,000 people, 12% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 20 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.8 per 10,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.4 per 10,000 people, 43% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 5 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.14am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 10.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 32% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,927 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 26% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Folkestone and Hythe council
Have a crap-off
Folkestone 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.