Crap Towns / Hampshire / Gosport
Gosport
28/100Crap Score
Known as Gospit.
706th crappest of 984 towns, and 8th in Hampshire. 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 Gosport? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Best bit's the ferry out.
Portsmouth reckons Gosport's best feature is the view of Portsmouth. Hard to argue.
Gosport's got submarines, a navy museum and a cracking view across the harbour. Pompey says that's the best thing about it, and Pompey's got a point. The high street's run down and there's fuck all to do in town. It's a big town with no railway station and one road in, which is always jammed. So everyone gets the ferry. To Portsmouth.
The council recycles about a quarter of its rubbish. Going by the fires, a lot of the rest gets set alight in the bins, with deliberate fires at 1.8 times the typical town's rate. Since 2010, 5 public pools have shut for good. The naval and local studies library went in 2018, in a town that lives off its naval history.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Gosport's 74 for deliberate fires means it's crapper than 74% of towns.
- Deliberate fires74/10010.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions72/1003.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene62/1003.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 398 food businesses with a rating
- Criminal damage and arson54/1007.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution45/1008.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Rain30/100121 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Anti-social behaviour26/10011.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills22/10049.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Fly-tipping14/1005.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Gosport council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband5/1002.5% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 2.1% across the Gosport council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Ringwood | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.5 | Basingstoke | 38 |
| 6 | New Milton | 32 |
| 7 | Eastleigh | 29 |
| 8 | Gosport | 28 |
| 9 | Totton | 28 |
| 10 | Petersfield | 26 |
| 11 | Aldershot | 23 |
| 12 | Tadley | 22 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Gosport by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 82.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 9% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 169 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 24.1 per 10,000 people, 7.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 1 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 38 pubs, 19 hairdressers, 6 charity shops, 4 bookmakers, 1 vape shop, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.1% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (3 of 49) Worse: 1.5x the typical town's 4.0%
- 4 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 5.7 per 100,000 people, 1.7x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 library shut for good since 2010: Gosport Naval & Local Studies (2018)
- 14 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.0 per 10,000 people, 25% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 4 public swimming pools open; 5 closed for good since 2010 Worse: 0.6 per 10,000 people, 14% lower than the typical English town's 0.7
- 7 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.44am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: 80% lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 16.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 8% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,732 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 13% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Gosport council
- £2,344 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £48 less than the English average
- 8% of Hampshire County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Gosport 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.