Crap Towns / Devon / Sidmouth
Sidmouth
5/100Crap Score
Known as Sheffield-by-the-Sea during Folk Week.
933rd crappest of 984 towns, and 17th in Devon. 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 Sidmouth? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Folk week, then nothing
Sidmouth's lovely and nothing happens. Want a stag do? Piss off to Exeter.
Sidmouth is a pretty seaside town with a pebble beach, very little crime and a lot of retired people. The pubs are dying, there's nothing for young people to do, and if you ask about a stag do they'll send you to Exeter.
Folk Week fills the place with Morris dancers. The rest of the year it's dog muck and arguments about dog muck. Gigabit broadband reaches 67% of premises, which bothers nobody, because most of Sidmouth has never asked for it.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Sidmouth's 98 for broadband means it's crapper than 98% of towns.
- Broadband98/10033.0% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 24.8% across the East Devon council area
- Sewage spills86/1001,162 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain55/100130 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions18/1001.5 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson17/1004.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene16/1000.8% rated 0 to 2, of the 121 food businesses with a rating
- Anti-social behaviour7/1007.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution7/1003.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.2 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Fly-tipping1/1002.5 incidents per 1,000 people a year, East Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Deliberate fires0/1001.0 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
| 10 | Dawlish | 31 |
| 11 | Tavistock | 27 |
| 12 | Kingsteignton | 26 |
| 13 | Teignmouth | 24 |
| 14 | Brixham | 23 |
| 15 | Ivybridge | 18 |
| 16 | Exmouth | 12 |
| 17 | Sidmouth | 5 |
Sidmouth by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 41.0 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 46% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 reports of graffiti and fly-posting on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026
- 2 of 2 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 8 pubs, 3 hairdressers, 3 charity shops, 1 bookmaker, 2 banks on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 15.1 per 100,000 people, 4.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 6 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 4.5 per 10,000 people, 2.8x the typical town's 1.6
- 2 public swimming pools open Better: 1.5 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.23am last bus out on a Wednesday About the same: About the same as the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 11.8% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 24% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,670 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 9% higher than the typical town's 1,532
East Devon council
Have a crap-off
Sidmouth 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.