AN IDYLLIC hamlet in rural Dorset has been named as Britain’s most unfortunate place name.

Shitterton, near Bere Regis, beat Scratchy Bottom near Durdle Door in Dorset and Brokenwind in Aberdeenshire in the survey by findmypast.co.uk.

Shitterton is a very literal English translation of the village name recorded in Norman French in the 11th century Domesday Book as Scatera or Scetra, which means a little town that is on the stream of a midden or sewer.

Ian Ventham, chairman of Bere Regis Parish Council, says he does not find the name embarrassing.

“It isn’t a midden now. It is a perfect rural hamlet with thatched cottages and idyllic Dorset countryside,” he said.

“Those of us who live here are not the least bit embarrassed by it.”