Crap Towns / Norfolk / Gorleston-on-Sea
Gorleston-on-Sea
65/100Crap Score
348th crappest of 984 towns, and 4th in Norfolk. 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
At least it's not Yarmouth.
A big sandy beach, Yarmouth across the river, and somebody's rubbish down the lane.
Gorleston's got a big sandy beach and will tell you it's better than Great Yarmouth's, just across the river. It probably is. Both bathing waters came out Excellent, the beach has been in a Hollywood film, and there's an old rhyme that says Yarmouth will end up under the sea while Gorleston does nicely. Nobody's told the council, which is Great Yarmouth's.
Away from the sand it's a different story. The council area gets fly-tipped at three times the typical council's rate, and the takeaways fail their inspections at nearly three times the typical town's. There's no pool, so the sea's your lot. Still, it's not Yarmouth, and that's all anyone here cares about.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Gorleston-on-Sea's 94 for fly-tipping means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Fly-tipping94/10033.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Great Yarmouth council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson76/1009.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene71/1004.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 125 food businesses with a rating
- Air pollution70/1009.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires58/1006.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions55/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband42/1004.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 12.3% across the Great Yarmouth council area
- Anti-social behaviour35/10012.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain26/100119 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills20/10040.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Great Yarmouth | 100 |
| 2 | Norwich | 84 |
| 3 | King's Lynn | 80 |
| 4 | Gorleston-on-Sea | 65 |
| 5 | Thetford | 49 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Gorleston-on-Sea by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 76.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 76.2
- 27 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 11.0 per 10,000 people, 3.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 15 pubs, 21 hairdressers, 7 charity shops, 3 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 11.5% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 26) Worse: 2.9x the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 8.2 per 100,000 people, 2.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 8 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
- 1 place on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.35am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 20% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 6% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,683 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 10% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Great Yarmouth council
- £2,414 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £22 more than the English average
- 8% of Norfolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Gorleston-on-Sea 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.