Crap Towns / Hampshire / Lee-on-the-Solent
Lee-on-the-Solent
0/100Crap Score
Known as Lee.
The least crap of 984 towns, and 31st 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Lee. Nothing wrong with it. Gutted.
About as un-crap as a town gets. The worst thing is somebody parked too long.
Lee-on-the-Solent is about as dull as the south coast gets. Hardly any crime, next to no fly-tipping, a sea rated Excellent, a hovercraft museum and a view of the Isle of Wight. Even the broadband's spot on. The big moan? People leaving cars in the short-stay spaces too long. Honestly. The scandal of the century. For fuck's sake.
To be fair to the moaners, it's had things taken off it. The pier's gone, the railway's gone, the Art Deco tower's gone and the old seafront villas got knocked down for flats. There's no public pool. It's the least crap town in Hampshire, and it still finds something to whinge about.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Lee-on-the-Solent's 34 for air pollution means it's crapper than 34% of towns.
- Air pollution34/1007.4 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Deliberate fires24/1003.8 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions22/1001.7 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Food hygiene21/1000.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 108 food businesses with a rating
- Rain18/100117 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Sewage spills15/10022.6 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour8/1007.8 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Criminal damage and arson1/1002.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping1/1002.3 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Fareham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Broadband0/1000.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 2.3% across the Fareham council area
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 23 | West End | 10 |
| 24 | Locks Heath | 9 |
| 25 | Alton | 9 |
| 26 | Hythe and Dibden Purlieu | 6 |
| 27 | South Hayling | 5 |
| 28 | Hedge End | 4 |
| 29 | Horndean | 3 |
| 30 | Chandler's Ford | 3 |
| 31 | Lee-on-the-Solent | 0 |
Lee-on-the-Solent by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 33.3 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 56% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 34 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 14.0 per 10,000 people, 4.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 9 hairdressers, 5 charity shops, 1 bookmaker on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 12) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 7 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 2.9 per 10,000 people, 1.8x the typical town's 1.6
- None public swimming pools open Worse: Against the typical English town's 0.7 per 10,000 people
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 11.38pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- Under 0.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Better: Far lower than the typical town's 0.5%
- 14.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 5% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,748 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 14% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Fareham council
- £2,271 Band D council tax (2026-27) Better: £121 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%
- None ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Lee-on-the-Solent 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.