Residents and champions of the town have reacted to Boscombe being named one of the ‘worst’ places to live in the UK.

Following the rating from website ilivehere.co.uk, residents and champions of the town say people need to look beyond what they see when passing through this part of Bournemouth.

Boscombe was placed number 33 in the top 50 of ‘worst places to live’, with Peterborough, Huddersfield and Liverpool taking the top three spots. More than 125,000 people voted in the poll.

Councillor George Farquhar and Harry Seccombe, owner of Chaplin's bar, have hit back at the ranking.

Mr Seccombe said: "I’m very positive about Boscombe and I’ve always said it’s got tons of potential.

"Boscombe definitely isn’t the worst place in the world to live. We have loads of good things happening here, as well as the beach and the pier. Boscombe is the dog everyone kicks, and whenever it comes up in the news there is always negative comments about the town.

"People need to look beyond what they see of Boscombe when they’re driving through. If they explored Boscombe they would see the nice aspects of the town. People miss out on that. They are making these judgements based on popular opinion and the opinion of trolls."

Harry admits that some things in Boscombe do need to be changed, but improvements are being made.

This includes the hub for the Boscombe Aspire Project which will open in April this year, as well as the Towns Fund which will regenerate the town.

Harry added: "There’s been a lot of change in Boscombe over the past few years and I have been heavily involved in the town for 15 years. There are still things that need to be done in Boscombe, but there is a high rate of development occurring."

For Cllr Farquhar, the result of this poll can be attributed to austerity and the losses that followed.

He said: "125,681 votes to produce the table gives an avenue for folks to voice their disappointment, however there are more productive ways to instigate the change people desire.

"Boscombe is recognised as one of the most deprived areas in the country and the driving factors for this deprivation leads to the people and communities living in a deprived area losing hope and the will to fight for change. Politicians have a role to play in changing that, but unfortunately too often not the accountability for their policies and decisions that lead to the deprivation.

"I am referring mainly to the last decade of austerity and the many losses it results in, not least 21,500 fewer police officers but also the closing of Sure Start centres, the loss of funding to youth centres and activities.

"Public and local authority funding cuts resulting in the loss of services unless they are statutory, one of the most important of these is the massive reductions in mental health provision at a time when more people than ever are in dire need.

"An end to austerity and the investment in people and public services is the right place to start and what is needed for our communities to be given the hope and will to fight for change back.

"How effective this article will be in achieving this, I can’t say, but if it can be used to help, then so be it. To do otherwise just adds to the problem not helping the solutions needed."