Crap Towns / Suffolk / Lowestoft
Lowestoft
40/100Crap Score
Locals call it Lowy. People from here are Puds.
591st crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in Suffolk. 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 Lowestoft? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Better than Yarmouth, just.
Britain's most easterly town. First to see the sunrise, last to get across the bridge.
Lowestoft is the most easterly town in Britain, so it gets the sunrise first. Up at Ness Point you can watch it come up beside a bloody great wind turbine and the back of an industrial estate. Then everyone sits in a queue to get over the bridge.
The herring went, the jobs went with them, and the vandals are worse than most round here. Since 2010, 2 public pools have shut for good, both for want of money, and the latest serious pollution incident put crude sewage in the water. Nice beaches, though. And the Puds' best argument for the place is that Great Yarmouth is worse. They're right.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Lowestoft's 81 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 81% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson81/10010.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions69/1002.9 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires61/1007.3 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution59/1008.5 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Anti-social behaviour49/10010.2 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband34/1001.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 14.6% across the East Suffolk council area
- Food hygiene33/1001.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 472 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping30/1007.6 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Suffolk council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Sewage spills23/10054.6 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain12/100114 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lowestoft | 40 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.2 | Sudbury | 30 |
| 3 | Ipswich | 15 |
| 4 | Haverhill | 11 |
| 5 | Newmarket | 9 |
| 6 | Stowmarket | 7 |
| 7 | Felixstowe | 6 |
| 8 | Woodbridge | 4 |
| 9 | Bury St Edmunds | 3 |
| 10 | Kesgrave | 0 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Lowestoft by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 81.1 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 6% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 96 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 13.5 per 10,000 people, 4x the typical town's 3.4
- 8 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
- 0 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 42 pubs, 43 hairdressers, 14 charity shops, 5 bookmakers, 2 vape shops, 7 banks, 2 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1.6% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (1 of 64) Better: 60% lower than the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Better: 2.8 per 100,000 people, 18% lower than the typical town's 3.4
- 9 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 19% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 5 public swimming pools open; 2 closed for good since 2010 About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
- 3 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.16am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 12.5% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 19% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,661 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 8% higher than the typical town's 1,532
East Suffolk council
- £2,335 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £57 less than the English average
- 22% of Suffolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 38% higher than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Lowestoft 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.