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Inside 'UK's most miserable town' where bonking outside Boots isn't the craziest sight
Slough in Berkshire was once a thriving town, but has since been named the ugliest and the most miserable town in Britain which a recent visit did little to challenge
A bloke paid a visit to what's been dubbed Britain's most miserable and ugliest town in recent years. It's fair to say Slough lived up to its dismal reputation in spite of David Brent's Office efforts.
David Leafe left the Berkshire town describing it as "the place locals do unthinkable things in public". That's on top of abandoned shopping streets peppered with vacant stores, a pervasive whiff of cannabis, and revolting public toilets.
Returning to where he spent his childhood in the 1960s, Leafe was taken aback by how much had altered over the years. Slough has recently been hit with some unflattering titles – labelled the ugliest town in the UK in 2023 by a national newspaper, and last year voted Britain's most miserable town in a Rightmove survey.
During his stroll through the town, local business owner John Hughes shared some of the troubling sights he has witnessed: "The other day I saw a man defecating just around the corner. And my friend who runs another stall saw a couple having sex in the road just along from Boots - and this was in broad daylight. There are toilets in the shopping centre but people wee up the doors outside all the time. It's like they just can't be bothered to go in and nobody does anything about it."
This anecdote comes from a town that once boasted prosperity and bustling retail in the 1960s, including the famous department store Suters. However, today's scene is starkly different, with hoardings concealing what used to be busy shop fronts, reports the Mirror.
David, steering clear of the distinct whiff of cannabis wafting through the town centre, chatted up retired quarryman Ken Fletcher. The 78 year old lamented: "It's heartbreaking to see the High Street like this because when you came here on a Saturday afternoon years ago it was so busy that you could hardly move. Now it's really grim. We'd rather drive to places like Bracknell. That's a good shopping centre."
Shockingly, there were 1,196 reported cases of shoplifting in Slough in 2024—a colossal 51 percent rise from the year before. Thames Valley Police and the financially embattled Slough Borough Council, which went bust in 2021 uncovering a whopping £100million deficit, are stretched thin.
This financial disaster has left the town centre's redevelopment prospects bleak, especially since much of it is owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which hoovered up the Queensmere and Observatory Shopping Centres in 2016 but hasn't delivered on their overhaul promises. And Mr Hughes, the baked potato stall king, reckons he'd be in hot water without his devoted regulars, stating: "We're still earning a good living because we know the locals but I wouldn't fancy starting up a business here now."
It appears Britain's most miserable town faces a significant challenge to shed its notorious label. Much like the lingering scent of cannabis in the town centre, reputation is sticky – and it takes time to fade away.
Daily Star Sunday
Slough in Berkshire was once a thriving town, but has since been named the ugliest and the most miserable town in Britain which a recent visit did little to challenge
A bloke paid a visit to what's been dubbed Britain's most miserable and ugliest town in recent years. It's fair to say Slough lived up to its dismal reputation in spite of David Brent's Office efforts.
David Leafe left the Berkshire town describing it as "the place locals do unthinkable things in public". That's on top of abandoned shopping streets peppered with vacant stores, a pervasive whiff of cannabis, and revolting public toilets.
Returning to where he spent his childhood in the 1960s, Leafe was taken aback by how much had altered over the years. Slough has recently been hit with some unflattering titles – labelled the ugliest town in the UK in 2023 by a national newspaper, and last year voted Britain's most miserable town in a Rightmove survey.
During his stroll through the town, local business owner John Hughes shared some of the troubling sights he has witnessed: "The other day I saw a man defecating just around the corner. And my friend who runs another stall saw a couple having sex in the road just along from Boots - and this was in broad daylight. There are toilets in the shopping centre but people wee up the doors outside all the time. It's like they just can't be bothered to go in and nobody does anything about it."
This anecdote comes from a town that once boasted prosperity and bustling retail in the 1960s, including the famous department store Suters. However, today's scene is starkly different, with hoardings concealing what used to be busy shop fronts, reports the Mirror.
David, steering clear of the distinct whiff of cannabis wafting through the town centre, chatted up retired quarryman Ken Fletcher. The 78 year old lamented: "It's heartbreaking to see the High Street like this because when you came here on a Saturday afternoon years ago it was so busy that you could hardly move. Now it's really grim. We'd rather drive to places like Bracknell. That's a good shopping centre."
Shockingly, there were 1,196 reported cases of shoplifting in Slough in 2024—a colossal 51 percent rise from the year before. Thames Valley Police and the financially embattled Slough Borough Council, which went bust in 2021 uncovering a whopping £100million deficit, are stretched thin.
This financial disaster has left the town centre's redevelopment prospects bleak, especially since much of it is owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), which hoovered up the Queensmere and Observatory Shopping Centres in 2016 but hasn't delivered on their overhaul promises. And Mr Hughes, the baked potato stall king, reckons he'd be in hot water without his devoted regulars, stating: "We're still earning a good living because we know the locals but I wouldn't fancy starting up a business here now."
It appears Britain's most miserable town faces a significant challenge to shed its notorious label. Much like the lingering scent of cannabis in the town centre, reputation is sticky – and it takes time to fade away.
Daily Star Sunday