Crap Towns / Somerset / Frome
Frome
31/100Crap Score
676th crappest of 984 towns, and 10th in Somerset. 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 Frome? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
It's Froom, and you can't afford it
Frome's got a street called Cheap Street. Nothing on it is.
Frome's got steep cobbled streets, a stream down the middle of Cheap Street and a monthly market everyone bangs on about. It's gone very posh. The normal shops are turning into fancy ones and the houses cost a fortune.
The banks have announced 5 branch closures, over five times the typical town's rate, so you'll be paying for the sourdough on your phone. Assuming you're not in the 2.2% of premises that can't get superfast broadband. Say it Froom, or someone in a linen shirt will put you right.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Frome's 78 for broadband means it's crapper than 78% of towns.
- Broadband78/1008.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.3% across the Somerset council area
- Rain65/100138 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Criminal damage and arson53/1007.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene53/1002.6% rated 0 to 2, of the 152 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions44/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills38/100160 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour36/10012.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires31/1004.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution21/1005.9 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping19/1006.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Somerset council area, 2023-24 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Midsomer Norton | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.7 | Chard | 38 |
| 8 | Yeovil | 34 |
| 9 | Minehead | 33 |
| 10 | Frome | 31 |
| 11 | Wellington | 27 |
| 12 | Street | 17 |
| 13 | Portishead | 16 |
| 14 | Wells | 15 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Frome by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 84.6 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 11% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 14 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 5.0 per 10,000 people, 47% higher than the typical town's 3.4
- 5 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2020
What's left on the high street
- 13 pubs, 11 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 4 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 5.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 17) Worse: 48% higher than the typical town's 4.0%
- 5 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 17.9 per 100,000 people, 5.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.5 per 10,000 people, 1.6x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
- 2 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.33am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 12.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 17% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,567 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Somerset council
Have a crap-off
Frome 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.