Crap Towns / Isle of Wight / Freshwater and Totland
Freshwater and Totland
14/100Crap Score
Locals call them Freshy and Totty.
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 14. 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
Freshwater. Not that fresh.
Chalk cliffs, the Needles and sunsets. Then nothing until morning.
Freshwater and Totland are right out at the far end of the Isle of Wight, so getting there takes an overnight bag. When you arrive there are chalk cliffs, the Needles and a decent sunset. Then the coast path's shut by a landslip, the seawall's crumbling and the overflows round the bays dumped sewage for three times the typical town's hours.
The air's got about half the typical town's nitrogen dioxide in it, and there are nearly four times the typical town's charity shops per head, which is what happens when the whole place has retired. There are 1,885 hours of sun a year. Anything fun is a long drive away.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Freshwater and Totland's 79 for broadband means it's crapper than 79% of towns.
- Broadband79/10014.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 13.0% across the Isle of Wight council area
- Sewage spills79/100826 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Food hygiene59/1003.5% rated 0 to 2, of the 58 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson40/1006.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions21/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping20/1006.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Isle of Wight council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Rain20/100117 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires18/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution8/1004.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour3/1006.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newport | 65 |
| 2 | Sandown | 65 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.3 | Ryde | 37 |
| 4 | Cowes | 20 |
| – | Freshwater and Totland | 14 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Freshwater and Totland by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 56.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 26% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 178 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 237 per 10,000 people, 69.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 3 pubs, 6 hairdressers, 4 charity shops on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.3 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 2.7 per 10,000 people, 3.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.03am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.0% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 25.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,885 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 23% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Isle of Wight council
Have a crap-off
Freshwater and Totland 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.