Crap Towns / Kent / Stone
Stone
57/100Crap Score
Too small for the table, which starts at 10,000 people, but it still scores 57. 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 Stone? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Nobody stops here.
Stone dug the hole for a giant shopping centre. It got the traffic for its trouble.
Stone is the bit of Kent by the Dartford Crossing where they dug chalk and made cement, and the old quarry is now a giant shopping centre. Stone gets the traffic. When the crossing jams, London Road jams with it, the trains whizz through without stopping and the vandals are busy. There's a Greggs.
The shopping centre brings the shoplifters too. Stone records 215 shoplifting crimes per 1,000 people a year, against 7.1 in the typical town. That's not a typo. Meanwhile superfast doesn't reach 9.4% of premises, nearly 19 times the typical town's share, so you can't even shop online.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Stone's 94 for air pollution means it's crapper than 94% of towns.
- Air pollution94/10013.7 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 8.1 of fine particles, 2024 average
- Criminal damage and arson93/10012.3 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Broadband91/10021.4% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 16.0% across the Dartford council area
- Fly-tipping68/10014.9 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Dartford council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Serious road collisions68/1003.1 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Anti-social behaviour63/10017.1 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene28/1001.2% rated 0 to 2, of the 84 food businesses with a rating
- Deliberate fires14/1002.4 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills2/1000.0 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain0/100105 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 14 | Herne Bay | 64 |
| 15 | Faversham | 64 |
| 16 | Margate | 63 |
| 17 | Swanley | 59 |
| – | Stone | 57 |
| 18 | Whitstable | 56 |
| 19 | Ashford | 55 |
| 20 | Minster | 54 |
| 21 | Snodland | 50 |
Stone by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 339 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 4.4x the typical town's 76.2
- 1 serious pollution incident within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2021
What's left on the high street
- 2 pubs, 4 hairdressers, 2 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 0.0% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (0 of 11) Better: Against the typical town's 4.0%
- 2 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 31.1 per 100,000 people, 9.1x the typical town's 3.4
- 5 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 7.8 per 10,000 people, 4.9x the typical town's 1.6
- 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
- 1am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 9.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 18.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 0.0% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: Against the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,640 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 7% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Dartford council
Have a crap-off
Stone 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.