The consumer watchdog Which? has ranked Brighton as a below average resort after a survey of thousands of people.
Brighton came joint 66th out of 105 seaside towns and villages up and down Britain – behind Rye and Eastbourne but ahead of Worthing, Hastings, Littlehampton and Bognor.
The survey results were published less than a fortnight after Adur District Council leader Neil Parkin said: “Worthing is quite lovely most of the time … Brighton is a dump.”
Which? asked respondents to give their verdict using eight categories – the beach, the seafront, food and drink, attractions, scenery, shopping, peace and quiet and value for money.
It listed average hotel rates – with Brighton the 24th most expensive – and calculated a “town score” based on a combination of overall satisfaction and how likely people were to recommend the resort as a holiday destination.
Brighton was given a town score of 66 per cent compared with 85 points for first-place St Mawes, in Cornwall, and just 44 per cent for Skegness, in Lincolnshire.
The north east resort of Whitley Bay, Bournemouth, in Dorset, and Southsea, in Portsmouth, were among 10 places ranked joint 50th with 70 per cent.
Some of the worst rankings went to traditional seaside towns such as Margate, Morecambe, Cleethorpes, Clacton, Blackpool and Great Yarmouth.
Brighton was given a two-star rating for its beach and three stars for its seafront as well as three stars out of five for its shopping.
It was given four stars for food and drink, its attractions, the scenery and the peace and quiet but just one star for value for money.
To see the full results, click here.
Hardly surprising given that successive Brighton councils have failed to deal with the issues that make a place worth visiting or living in, choosing instead to waste Taxpayer’s money on vanity projects which invariably fail, but not before their authors have moved on to bigger and better projects.
Public comfort matters more than gimmicks like the i360. Decent affordable restaurants by the shore, loos, trees, benches.
Instead the image is alcohol fuelled quasi Magaluf!
I find Neil Parkin, comments about Brighton being a dump, very rich. Mr Parkin, prior to his position as leader of Adur Council, was a Brighton taxi driver for many, many years. I can also confirm Mr Parkin, also still owns a Brighton Hackney Carriage plate and vehicle, which he leases out.
I’ve lived in Brighton all my life – 3rd generation in fact. Fair enough Mr Parkin, is entitled to his opinion, however some of us have been around for a long time and know you from old, when you were down with the working class of Brighton, scratching a living as a cabby.
Because it stinks!
Why didn’t Which? include Hove in its survey?
I wouldn’t worry about this stupid survey, nuclear wasteground Dungeness was rated 17th ffs
The beach is truly horrendous. Bournemouths white sand is far superior.
Great food but very expensive and not exactly as friendly a place as it was 20 years ago.
Too many “London types with their money and arrogance and general aggressive, miserable attitudes”
Great place to live for a few years if you are between 16 and 40. After a while it does become self serving and a ridiculous caricature of itself.
Certainly great for the simple yocals with the house prices but
Will end up full of miserable try hards that want to be near something like Brighton but don’t want all the loud and bright that goes with it. Classic case of gentrification going to far. Will only be a matter of time before it represents a hollow, sterile version of itself.