Crap Towns / Gloucestershire / Gloucester
Gloucester
66/100Crap Score
Known as Glosta del Sol.
333rd crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd in Gloucestershire. 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 Gloucester? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Run by gulls, and it shows
Nice docks, big rugby club and gulls that shit on everything.
Gloucester has the docks, the Shed and a cathedral, and gulls that scream all night and shit on the lot. Round the Quays and the Gate Streets there's street drinking and aggro, and the roads see more bad crashes than most. Locals call it Glos Vegas. It's not Vegas, mate.
Crime is up at 1.6 times the typical town's rate, robbery at three times and bike theft at four. 11 places are on the Heritage at Risk list, so even the old stuff's giving up. Cheltenham is up the road, looking smug.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Gloucester's 89 for anti-social behaviour means it's crapper than 89% of towns.
- Anti-social behaviour89/10026.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions81/1003.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson66/1008.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping56/10010.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Gloucester council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution52/1008.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.6 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain50/100128 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires42/1005.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills31/10096.3 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Food hygiene30/1001.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 643 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband29/1005.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 5.2% across the Gloucester council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Filton | 70 |
| 2 | Gloucester | 66 |
| 3 | Patchway | 57 |
| 4 | Cheltenham | 54 |
| 5 | Stroud | 44 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Kingswood and Fishponds | 39 |
| 7 | Tewkesbury | 38 |
| 8 | Quedgeley and Hardwicke | 37 |
| 9 | Cirencester | 36 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Gloucester by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 121 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 4,297 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 362 per 10,000 people, 106.5x the typical town's 3.4
- 12 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
What's left on the high street
- 61 pubs, 71 hairdressers, 23 charity shops, 8 bookmakers, 7 vape shops, 11 banks, 5 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 8.7% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (8 of 92) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 1.7 per 100,000 people, 50% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 11 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 44% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 11 public swimming pools open Better: 0.9 per 10,000 people, 29% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 11 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- All night buses on a Wednesday Better: The typical town's last bus goes at 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 9.9% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 36% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,562 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Gloucester council
- £2,356 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £36 less than the English average
- 26% of Gloucestershire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.6x England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Gloucester 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.