Crap Towns / Norfolk / Poringland
Poringland
1/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 1. 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 Poringland? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Boring. It's half the name.
A pond, a village sign and a lot of new houses for people who work in Norwich.
Poringland is a commuter village outside Norwich that keeps getting bigger. There's a pond, a fancy village sign, crime well under half the typical town's and a nickname, Boringland, that it's earned. They keep building houses on the fields, and whoever moved into the last lot objects to the next lot. It's on top of a hill and it still floods.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Poringland's 88 for broadband means it's crapper than 88% of towns.
- Broadband88/10012.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 28.3% across the South Norfolk council area
- Deliberate fires45/1005.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution37/1006.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.9 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Food hygiene37/1000.0% rated 0 to 2, of the 17 food businesses with a rating
- Rain24/100119 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions19/1001.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping11/1004.8 incidents per 1,000 people a year, South Norfolk council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson6/1003.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour1/1005.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 6 | Dereham | 35 |
| 7 | Downham Market | 33 |
| 8 | Bradwell | 33 |
| 9 | Wymondham | 18 |
| 10 | North Walsham | 17 |
| 11 | Watton | 10 |
| 12 | Attleborough | 4 |
| – | Poringland | 1 |
| 13 | Taverham and Drayton | 1 |
Poringland by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 31.4 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 59% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 8 reports of potholes and bad road surfaces on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 11.3 per 10,000 people, 3.3x the typical town's 3.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2024
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs, 2 hairdressers, 2 charity shops on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 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
- 11.33pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 0.7% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 40% higher than the typical town's 0.5%
- 2.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 85% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,616 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 5% higher than the typical town's 1,532
South Norfolk council
- £2,483 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £91 more than the English average
- 8% of Norfolk County Council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Better: 50% lower than England's 16%
- 1 ombudsman complaint upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Poringland 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.