Crap Towns / Somerset / Radstock
Radstock
65/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 65. 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 Radstock? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Radstock doesn't move.
An old mining town where the traffic doesn't move and there's nothing to do but get a haircut.
Radstock used to dig coal. Now it mostly sits at the double mini roundabouts going nowhere, which is why locals call it Roadstuck. There's no railway, the roadworks overlap and crossing the road is a gamble. 17% of the council's B and C roads need looking at, against 6% across England, so even when it moves it's bumpy.
The overflows run for over five times as long as the typical town's. Gigabit broadband reaches 77.8% of premises, so you can't even stream something while you're stuck. There's nothing in town but hairdressers.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Radstock's 93 for broadband means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Broadband93/10022.2% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 20.7% across the Bath and North East Somerset council area
- Sewage spills89/1001,458 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain67/100140 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Deliberate fires63/1007.7 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Food hygiene61/1003.9% rated 0 to 2, of the 51 food businesses with a rating
- Fly-tipping60/10011.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Bath and North East Somerset council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Criminal damage and arson47/1006.9 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour39/10013.4 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Serious road collisions37/1002.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Air pollution23/1006.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.0 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bath | 66 |
| – | Radstock | 65 |
| 2 | Bridgwater | 57 |
| 3 | Taunton | 52 |
| 4 | Keynsham | 51 |
| 5 | Weston-super-Mare | 51 |
| 6 | Midsomer Norton | 41 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.7 | Chard | 38 |
| 8 | Yeovil | 34 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
Radstock by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 80.8 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 6% higher than the typical town's 76.2
- 152 reports of litter and bins on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 152 per 10,000 people, 168.9x the typical town's 0.9
- 4 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 4 pubs, 3 hairdressers on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) Worse: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 38% lower than the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 1.0 per 10,000 people, 43% higher than the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.42am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.5% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 3x the typical town's 0.5%
- 9.6% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 38% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,585 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
Bath and North East Somerset council
- £2,383 Band D council tax (2026-27) About the same: £9 less than the English average
- 24% of Bath and North East Somerset council's unclassified roads should have been considered for maintenance (2025-26) Worse: 1.5x England's 16%
- 9 ombudsman complaints upheld against the council in 2025-26
- More on the council
Have a crap-off
Radstock 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.