Crap Towns / Isle of Wight / Newport
Newport
65/100Crap Score
343rd crappest of 984 towns, and the crappest in the Isle of Wight. 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
Full roads, empty shops
The Isle of Wight's county town. Busy roads, empty shops and daylight robbery parking.
Newport is where the whole Isle of Wight comes to shop, which would be fine if there were any shops. The high street's got units that have been empty for years, plus vape shops at over five times the typical town's rate per head, and the parking costs a fortune. The roads jam round the river crossings and serious crashes run at 1.8 times the typical town's rate.
Crime comes in at 1.6 times the typical town's too. The festival's good. For one weekend a year, the Island comes to Newport on purpose.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Newport's 93 for serious road collisions means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Serious road collisions93/1004.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Sewage spills81/100906 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson77/1009.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene65/1003.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 182 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband60/1008.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 13.0% across the Isle of Wight council area
- Anti-social behaviour48/10015.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Deliberate fires36/1004.9 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Rain35/100122 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Air pollution21/1006.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.7 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping20/1006.4 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Isle of Wight council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Newport | 65 |
| 2 | Sandown | 65 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.3 | Ryde | 37 |
| 4 | Cowes | 20 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Newport by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 120 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 539 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 212 per 10,000 people, 62.4x the typical town's 3.4
What's left on the high street
- 14 pubs, 28 hairdressers, 12 charity shops, 2 bookmakers, 4 vape shops, 8 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 20) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 3 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.2 per 10,000 people, 25% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 0.8 per 10,000 people, 14% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
- 4 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 1.23am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.9% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 1.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 34.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,836 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 20% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Isle of Wight council
Have a crap-off
Newport 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.