England’s ‘worst place to live’ is ‘dump’ full of beggars...

FED-up locals from a region recently dubbed the worst place to live in England have labelled it a "dump" full of beggars and casinos. And it's so bad parents send their kids to school in another county. Residents of Rushmoor, Hampshire, complain of eight-hour ambulance wait times and kids lining the streets to beg. It comes as the area plunged to the very bottom of a recent study ranking the liveability of every local authority in Britain.

Image Credit: The Sun [Wellington Street in Aldershot, Hants, described as the worst place to live in Britain.]

Analysis by The Sunday Times weighed factors like crime rates, housing prices, Ofsted reports and GP waiting times to find the spots in which Brits are most and least happy to live. At number 291, Rushmoor was considered the worst of the bunch in England - and those living there seem to agree. Though not a town or city, Rushmoor is a district that covers two neighbouring towns - Aldershot and Farnborough - and it is run by Rushmoor Borough Council.

Image Credit: The Sun [Woman standing on a street in Aldershot, arms crossed.]

Sian Lewis, who works as an administrator in Aldershot, told The Sun: "For someone that works here, Aldershot is a dump. "Do you know what, because I live some where pretty nice, it really makes me see that there are so many casinos. "They're putting in things that cause poverty.". In Aldershot town centre, drug users can be seen loitering around a phone box and pacing along the high street. Five betting shops can be found within 200 metres of each other, while a bargain shop in the centre has been demolished, leaving an eyesore gap in the row of shops.

Image Credit: The Sun [Onyinyechi Ndukwe in Aldershot, UK.]

And one woman, having a conversation with a friend on the high street, can be overheard chatting about her recent return from jail. Taking in her surroundings, Sian Lewis told how she has encountered some nasty experiences in the area - including being followed by "really strange people". "I've had to pretend I was looking somewhere else, looking to go in a shop, and I don't know what they're going to do," the 47-year-old said.

Image Credit: The Sun [Union Street in Aldershot, described as the worst place to live in Britain.]

"I just think he was high or something.". The mum-of-one has also seen children begging on the streets and said matters get worse outside of term time. "In the holidays we get kids coming in from I don't know where begging," she said. "I don't know if they're part of a gang or if it's just local kids trying their luck to get some free money.". A 2024 report by the council found Rushmoor to be of the highest deprived districts in Hampshire.

Image Credit: The Sun [Street scene in Aldershot, Hants, described as the worst place to live in Britain.]

It also found the area's crime rate to be higher than the county's average per 1,000 population. Student nurse Anna-Marie Mcadoo used to work as a discharge co-ordinator in the NHS and she's lived in Aldershot since she was 12 years old. She said she won't let her 15-year-old daughter go into town too much because of "drunks" and the "overall environment". And she has sent her daughter to a school in Surrey because of the bad reputation of schools in their local area.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man standing on a street in Aldershot, UK.]

"It does have that sense of feeling like a deprived area, definitely," the 51-year-old said. This doesn't go for all of Rushmore, though. The Times data pointed out that a high proportion of schools in the wider area are rated 'Outstanding' by Ofsted. Anna-Marie added: "I suppose in terms of health, in my sense, my daughter has been waiting for an autism assessment and it could take still another two years so I would say in terms of meeting people's health needs they could improve definitely.

Image Credit: The Sun [Victoria Road, Aldershot: a street scene described as the worst place to live in Britain.]

"People not being able to get GP appointments face to face is bad. I don't know why because Covid's long gone.". NHS waiting times were ranked among the worst in England by The Sunday Times - coming in 276th position. Satisfaction with GPs - measured by the number of people who rated their GP 'good' in the area - was also low, in 250th place. Miss Mcadoo noted that a lot of people are in hospital beds when they don't need to be and not enough is being spent on social services in the area.

Image Credit: The Sun [Carole Gaines, 65, in Aldershot, Hants.]

And she said: "They would just end up stuck in a bed for months and it's disgusting, really.". For someone that works here, Aldershot is a dump. Another nurse, Onyinyechi Ndukwe, works on the outskirts of Rushmoor in New Frimley Park Hospital. When she once had to go to the hospital as a patient, she said an ambulance she called for arrived eight hours after her initial call. "They didn't come until I got to the hospital," she explained. "After eight hours. It was urgent because I couldn't really walk.

"They keep saying you're breathing, that's ok, you're breathing. So I had to use a taxi to the hospital.". Miss Ndukwe, who was in pain, then didn't see a doctor for hours after arriving at hospital. However, Mr Subramanian, who has a six-year-old daughter, is not happy with the GP waiting list which can see him wait between one and three months to see a doctor. "NHS, we have some waiting time," he said.

"The new elected representatives promised these issues would be sorted, but let's wait and see.". It does have that sense of feeling like a deprived area. Others are more optimistic. Carole Gaines, a civil servant from Farnham, has lived in Aldershot for 40 years - and she likes living in Rushmoor. The Leader of Rushmoor Borough Council, Councillor Gareth Williams, said: "We don't recognise such a negative view of Aldershot.