Wick

Park at the shops. Don't walk off.

Twinned with Littlehampton

61/100Crap Score

384th crappest of 984 towns, and 4th in West Sussex. Higher scores are crapper.

How the score works

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Crap Town of the Year 2026/27

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The public vote. It's separate from the Crap Score, and it closes on 31 December 2027.

Letters from the locals

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Walk off and you're fined.

Swallowed by Littlehampton. Now it fines you for walking away from the shops.

Wick used to be a village before Littlehampton swallowed it. The big local scandal is the parking at Wick Parade, where you get fined if you walk away from the shops. The roundabout's full of potholes and drivers ignore the crossing lights. There's an alley called Dark Alley. It's dark.

There's a Roman brickworks under Potters Mead, which is the most industry Wick's seen in a while. The kitchens are over twice as likely as the typical town's to be rated 0 to 2, there's no pool, and the sun's out for 1,847 hours a year to sit in the car park in, as long as you don't walk off.

The editor, who got a ticket at Wick Parade

What the score is made of

Ten ingredients, each marked out of 100. Higher is crapper.

Wick's 78 for broadband means it's crapper than 78% of towns.

Broadband78/10011.3% of premises can't get gigabit, January 2026, and 17.7% across the Arun council area
Food hygiene69/1005.3% rated 0 to 2, of the 38 food businesses with a rating
Serious road collisions69/1003.0 per 10,000 people a year, fatal and serious, 2021 to 2025
Sewage spills62/100
Criminal damage and arson58/1007.6 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
Deliberate fires55/100
Anti-social behaviour46/10014.7 per 1,000 people a year, September 2023 to August 2026
Fly-tipping42/1009.7 incidents per 1,000 people a year, Arun council area, 2022-23 to 2024-25
Air pollution33/1007.0 µg/m³ of nitrogen dioxide and 6.3 of fine particles, 2024 average
Rain17/100116 days of rain a year, at least 1 mm, 1991 to 2020 average

**Your patch: West Sussex**Towns in the same county. Top of the table is crappest.
Pos	Town	National	Score
1	Littlehampton	153rd	85
2	Chichester	180th	82
3	Crawley	328th	67
4	Wick	384th	61
5	Shoreham-by-Sea	385th	61
6	Barnham	392nd	60
7	Southwick	440th	55
8	Bognor Regis	464th	53
9	East Grinstead	546th	45

Wick by numbers

Thinking of moving here? Don't say we didn't warn you.

Crime, muck and dodgy water

What's left on the high street

Getting about, getting online, getting rained on

Arun council

Have a crap-off

Wick against your mate's town, and a match ticket to rub it in.

Against

WickCrap Score 61

LittlehamptonCrap Score 85

Ten ingredients. One verdict. Who's crapper? The higher Crap Score takes it.