Crap Towns / Devon / Seaton
Seaton
20/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 20. 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 Seaton? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Get the tram out.
Seaton's big attraction is a tram that takes you out of Seaton. Says it all.
Seaton has a pebble beach on the Jurassic Coast and a heritage tram, and the tram's main job is taking you somewhere else. Crime's under half the typical town's. Everything shuts early, the town centre's tired, the seafront parking costs a fortune and there's no proper train.
The last bus goes at 8.40pm, so if you've missed the tram you're stuck. The overflows run for six times as long as the typical town's, and somehow the sea still came out Excellent. Lucky.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Seaton's 98 for broadband means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Broadband98/10037.8% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.8% across the East Devon council area
- Sewage spills91/1001,666 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain61/100134 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene56/1003.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 64 food businesses with a rating
- Serious road collisions51/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Deliberate fires14/1002.5 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Air pollution5/1003.1 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson4/1003.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour1/1005.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping1/1002.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| – | Seaton | 20 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Seaton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 36.7 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 52% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 1 problem reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 94% lower than the typical town's 20.4
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 5 pubs, 1 hairdresser, 1 charity shop, 1 bookmaker, 1 bank on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 bank branch closure announced since 2022 Worse: 13.4 per 100,000 people, 3.9x the typical town's 3.4
- 4 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 5.4 per 10,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 1.3 per 10,000 people, 1.9x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 8.40pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.1% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.2x the typical town's 0.5%
- 17.4% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Worse: 12% higher than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,712 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 12% higher than the typical town's 1,532
East Devon council
Have a crap-off
Seaton 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.