Crap Towns / Kent / Northfleet
Northfleet
75/100Crap Score
242nd crappest of 984 towns, and 5th in Kent. 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
Beep, beep, beep, reversing
Cement works, chalk pits and lorries reversing on Springhead Road all day.
Northfleet made cement and paper and still has the dust to prove it. Lorries beep in reverse round Springhead Road all day, the fly-tippers dump at twice the typical council's rate and the vandals aren't far behind. There's a lovely lake in an old chalk pit, and Ebbsfleet United are good for hating Dartford.
The nitrogen dioxide's 1.7 times the typical town's, so the cement works never really left. Somebody sets fire to the bins at twice the typical town's rate. It barely rains, 106 days a year, which keeps the dust nice and dry.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Northfleet's 94 for air pollution means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Air pollution94/10013.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 7.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson88/10011.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions87/1003.8 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Broadband87/10016.9% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 16.9% across the Gravesham council area
- Fly-tipping85/10022.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Gravesham council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires78/10011.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Anti-social behaviour55/10015.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills19/10037.4 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
- Food hygiene13/1000.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 129 food businesses with a rating
- Rain1/100106 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheerness | 96 |
| 2 | Chatham | 89 |
| 3 | Dartford | 80 |
| 4 | Canterbury | 80 |
| 5 | Northfleet | 75 |
| 6 | Sittingbourne | 74 |
| 7 | Gravesend | 73 |
| 8 | Dover | 72 |
| 9 | Rochester | 72 |
Northfleet by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 96.5 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 27% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 19 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 6.4 per 10,000 people, 5.8x the typical town's 1.1
- 3 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 12 pubs, 7 hairdressers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 26) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 5 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 1.7 per 10,000 people, 6% higher than the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open About the same: 0.7 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.26am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as 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%
- 1.2% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 92% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,668 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 9% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Gravesham council
Have a crap-off
Northfleet 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.