Crap Towns / Devon / Ilfracombe
Ilfracombe
61/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 61. Higher scores are crapper.
Have your say
Crap Town of the Year 2026/27
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Letters from the locals
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agree it's crap have defended it
Ilfracombe. Mind the gulls.
A naked statue on the harbour, a theatre like a power station and empty shops.
Ilfracombe has a giant statue on the harbour with her insides on show, a seafront theatre that looks like cooling towers and a High Street of empty shops, charity shops and pubs. The gulls rip the bins open, the drains flood, and the vandalism and anti-social behaviour are worse than most.
You get rain on 166 days a year, and gigabit's on offer to 28% of premises, so a wet day indoors is no better. Criminal damage is going up. Some call it Ilfrascum. Some call it Ilfragloom.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Ilfracombe's 99 for broadband means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Broadband99/10072.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 39.1% across the North Devon council area
- Criminal damage and arson92/10011.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour91/10027.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Rain89/100166 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills62/100455 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Deliberate fires60/1007.1 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene59/1003.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 132 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping18/1006.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions11/1001.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution2/1003.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth | 86 |
| 2 | Torquay | 84 |
| 3 | Barnstaple | 69 |
| 4 | Tiverton | 69 |
| – | Ilfracombe | 61 |
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| 6 | Exeter | 45 |
| 7 | Bideford | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Newton Abbot | 39 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Ilfracombe by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 105 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 38% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 0 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 11 hairdressers, 4 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 10.9 per 100,000 people, 3.2x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 2.2 per 10,000 people, 3.1x the typical English town's 0.7
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.45pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.6% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 20% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 0.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: Against the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,666 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 9% higher than the typical town's 1,532
North Devon council
Have a crap-off
Ilfracombe 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.