Crap Towns / Kent / Paddock Wood

Welcome to

Paddock Wood

Padders. The train out is the highlight.
Twinned with a train to London

30/100Crap Score

Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 30. Higher scores are crapper.

How the score works

Have your say

Crap Town of the Year 2026/27

See the race

The 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 Paddock Wood? Write in.

Sod all on.

Paddock Wood used to be hop fields. Now it's new houses, a supermarket and the train to London.

Paddock Wood grew hops and fruit, and Londoners used to come here on holiday to pick them. Nobody comes on holiday now. There's not much to do beyond a café and the supermarket. They're building houses on land that floods, the doctors and schools are full and the station parking spills into the streets. And kids with catapults.

There's a Greggs, at over four times the typical town's rate per head, and 2 pubs. There's no bus after 8.19pm and Sunday's a write-off. Vandalism runs well above the typical town's rate, which is the catapults earning their keep.

What the score is made of

Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.

Paddock Wood's 80 for broadband means it's crapper than 80% of towns.

  • Broadband80/10011.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 19.2% across the Tunbridge Wells council area
  • Criminal damage and arson80/1009.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
  • Anti-social behaviour58/10016.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
  • Sewage spills53/100309 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2024 to 2025
  • Air pollution45/1007.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
  • Fly-tipping28/1006.1 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Tunbridge Wells council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
  • Food hygiene25/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 39 food businesses with a rating
  • Serious road collisions23/1001.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
  • Rain14/100115 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
  • Deliberate fires12/1002.2 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
Your patch: KentTowns in the same county. Top of the table is crappest.
PosTownNationalScore
24Hythe548th44
25Tonbridge564th43
In danger of becoming nice from here down.26Royal Tunbridge Wells598th39
27Larkfield613th38
28Deal630th36
29Herne672nd32
–Paddock Wood–30
30Sevenoaks719th27
31Longfield, New Ash Green and Hartley882nd10

Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.

Paddock Wood by numbers

Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Crime, muck and dodgy water

What's left on the high street

Getting about, getting online, getting rained on

Tunbridge Wells council

Have a crap-off

Paddock Wood against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.

Paddock WoodCrap Score 30
v
PemburyCrap Score 12

Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.