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‘Totally unfair’ - Anger after Wolverhampton named UK's second worst city in poll

Wolverhampton has been named the second worst city in the UK in a national poll.

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The city narrowly avoided the unwanted title of worst in Britain, coming above only Bradford in the YouGov poll of more than 55,000 people.

The data firm asked people across the country their views on UK cities and whether or not they liked them.

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Less than a quarter - just 24 per cent - had a favourable opinion of Wolverhampton. The poll was based purely on people’s impressions of British cities, appearing to reveal the Black Country city carries a largely negative stereotype elsewhere in the UK.

It came only one percentage point above Bradford which, according to the poll, is the UK’s worst city in the eyes of the population.

Birmingham fared slightly better but was still at the lower end of the list, ranked 47th out of 57, with 40 per cent having a positive opinion of the second city. Lichfield was placed 38th after 60 per cent said they liked the Staffordshire city.

York was revealed as the UK’s favourite, with more than nine in 10 - 92 per cent - giving the historic Yorkshire city the thumbs up, followed by Bath, Edinburgh and Chester.

Check out how other cities ranked:

See how cities were ranked on the table above

It is not the first time Wolverhampton has been hammered by a survey. In 2009, it was ranked as the fifth worst city in the world, while it has also been named as one of the most miserable and least prosperous.

Conversely, the city was named as one of the best places in the UK to raise a family this year, coming third on a list by the Family Living Index of top cities to bring up children due to job prospects and the availability of affordable housing.

Mayor of Wolverhampton, Phil Page

Mayor of Wolverhampton Phil Page said the latest ranking was ‘totally unfair’.

He said: “I think people ought to come and visit Wolverhampton. People just put the name out there, they have never been here, I suspect, and know nothing about it.

“It’s an absolutely fantastic city, it has got so much going for it. These people must be on a different planet, they have never been here. They need to come and see me and I’ll tell them how good it is.”

Bosses at Wolverhampton's Mander Centre hit out at the poll calling it 'madness.'

On Twitter the centre said: "What????!!!! this is madness!"