Crap Towns / Devon / South Molton
South Molton
50/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 50. 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
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agree it's crap have defended it
Who called it SoMo?
A sheep and cattle market town that's given itself a London nickname. Behave.
South Molton's a sheep and cattle market town that calls itself SoMo, like it's in bloody London. It's got a Pannier Market and a grand Guildhall. It's also got lorries and huge tractors squeezing down the streets and pavements too narrow to walk on.
It pisses down on 171 days a year, sewage comes out of the overflows for nearly 15 times as long as in the typical town, and 9.1% of food places get 0 to 2 from the hygiene inspectors, nearly four times the typical town's share. The last bus is at 9.35pm. SoMo. Do me a favour.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
South Molton's 99 for sewage spills means it's crapper than 99% of towns.
- Sewage spills99/1003,997 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Broadband97/10021.1% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 39.1% across the North Devon council area
- Rain92/100171 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Food hygiene87/1009.1% rated 0 to 2, of the 55 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires57/1006.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Serious road collisions45/1002.3 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Criminal damage and arson30/1005.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Fly-tipping18/1006.0 incidents per 1,000 people a year, North Devon council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Anti-social behaviour9/1008.0 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Air pollution3/1003.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 4.8 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Torquay | 84 |
| 3 | Barnstaple | 69 |
| 4 | Tiverton | 69 |
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| – | South Molton | 50 |
| 6 | Exeter | 45 |
| 7 | Bideford | 42 |
| In danger of becoming nice from here down.8 | Newton Abbot | 39 |
| 9 | Honiton | 37 |
Below the dashed line: in danger of becoming nice.
South Molton by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 50.9 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Better: 33% lower than the typical town's 76.2
- 2 problems reported on FixMyStreet in the year to October 2026 Better: 3.2 per 10,000 people, 84% lower than the typical town's 20.4
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2023
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs, 1 charity shop on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 1 public toilet on the map (October 2026) About the same: 1.6 per 10,000 people, about the same as the typical town's 1.6
- 1 public swimming pool open Better: 1.6 per 10,000 people, 2.3x the typical English town's 0.7
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 9.35pm last bus out on a Wednesday Worse: Earlier than the typical town's 12.14am
- 1.2% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 2.4x the typical town's 0.5%
- 10.3% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 34% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,484 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) About the same: About the same as the typical town's 1,532
North Devon council
Have a crap-off
South Molton 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.