Crap Towns / Devon / Torquay
Torquay
84/100Crap Score
159th crappest of 984 towns, and 2nd 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 Torquay? Write in.
agree it's crap have defended it
Palm trees. Pissy car parks.
Palm trees on the seafront. Empty shops and pissy car parks behind them.
Torquay calls itself the English Riviera and has palm trees to back it up. Walk up Union Street and it's empty shops, car parks that stink of piss and graffiti everywhere. At the weekend it gets rowdy.
Crime sits at 1.6 times the typical town's rate and the vandals are at it, with criminal damage at 1.8 times. The banks have announced 6 branch closures and even Princess Gardens is on the Heritage at Risk list. Every bathing water nearby came out Excellent, so it's not the sea's fault. Fawlty Towers was set here. Basil would fit right in.
What the score is made of
Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.
Torquay's 93 for criminal damage and arson means it's crapper than 93% of towns.
- Criminal damage and arson93/10012.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Anti-social behaviour88/10025.5 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
- Food hygiene82/1004.4% rated 0 to 2, of the 430 food businesses with a rating
- Broadband79/10014.7% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 12.2% across the Torbay council area
- Deliberate fires71/1009.6 per 10,000 people a year, April 2023 to March 2026
- Sewage spills70/100609 spill hours per 10,000 people a year, storm overflows within 1 km, 2023 to 2025
- Rain62/100135 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average
- Serious road collisions58/1002.6 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
- Fly-tipping33/1008.2 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Torbay council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
- Air pollution13/1005.2 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 5.4 of fine particles, 2024 average
| Pos | Town | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plymouth | 86 |
| 2 | Torquay | 84 |
| 3 | Barnstaple | 69 |
| 4 | Tiverton | 69 |
| 5 | Paignton | 53 |
| 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.
Torquay by numbers
Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.
Crime, muck and dodgy water
- 122 crimes per 1,000 people a year (September 2023 to August 2026) Worse: 1.6x the typical town's 76.2
- 24 reports of fly-tipping on FixMyStreet, the most reported problem in the year to October 2026 Worse: 4.6 per 10,000 people, 4.2x the typical town's 1.1
- 2 serious pollution incidents within 1 km since 2016, the latest in 2026
- 9 of 9 bathing waters here or within 2 km rated Excellent in 2025
What's left on the high street
- 27 pubs, 9 hairdressers, 7 charity shops, 6 bookmakers, 5 banks, 1 Greggs on the map here as of 1 October 2026
- 6.9% of takeaways rated 0 to 2 for hygiene (4 of 58) Worse: 1.7x the typical town's 4.0%
- 6 bank branch closures announced since 2022 Worse: 11.5 per 100,000 people, 3.4x the typical town's 3.4
- 17 public toilets on the map (October 2026) Better: 3.3 per 10,000 people, 2.1x the typical town's 1.6
- 11 public swimming pools open; 7 closed for good since 2010 Better: 2.1 per 10,000 people, 3x the typical English town's 0.7
- 4 places on England's Heritage at Risk register
Getting about, getting online, getting rained on
- 12.45am last bus out on a Wednesday Better: Later than the typical town's 12.14am
- 2.4% of premises can't get superfast broadband (January 2026) Worse: 4.8x the typical town's 0.5%
- 7.7% live more than 400 metres from a park or play space Better: 50% lower than the typical town's 15.5%
- 1,752 hours of sunshine a year (1991 to 2020 average) Better: 14% higher than the typical town's 1,532
Torbay council
Have a crap-off
Torquay 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.