Reddit users name Luton the 'absolute worst place in the UK'

Luton regularly tops lists of the worst places to live in the UK

For all its downsides, the famous Luton Carnival is the largest one-day event of its kind in the UK (Oli Scarff/Getty Images)

The Bedfordshire town of Luton has been named as the worst place in the UK, in a recent Reddit thread about some of the country's least-loved areas.

In the thread, titled: 'What is the absolute worst place you have been to in the UK?', users of Reddit's UK forum appeared to agree that Luton took the title.

Variously described as "the town at the end of humanity", the "worst place in the country" and "a s*******", Luton's flaws dominated the discussion.

However, some managed to find positives - one commenter mentioned that Luton does have its nicer parts, while another pointed out that the town's three motorway junctions, two railway stations and airport make it easy to escape from.

Fortunately for Luton, a number of other satellite towns were nominated for the dubious honour - Stevenage, Rhyl and Port Talbot were among the top answers, while Glasgow's infamous Easterhouse estate naturally got a mention.

Luton has struggled with its reputation for a long time, regularly topping lists of the worst places to live in the UK. However, in a recent survey conducted by Rightmove, Luton was only named as the eighth-worst place in the country, being beaten by the London boroughs of Barking and Dagenham, Hounslow and Brent, which took the top three places.

For all its flaws, Luton does have its upsides - local football team Luton Town FC has enjoyed a number of spells in the top flight of English football during its 130-year history, and the town is also home to the popular Luton Carnival, the largest one-day carnival in the UK.

Possibly to counter the negativity of the original discussion, another thread about the best places in the UK was set up shortly afterwards - the Isle of Skye, York, Sheffield and Bristol were among the top answers, but unfortunately, Luton didn't get a mention.