Inside the British town swamped with 145 barbershops once branded 'worst place to live'
Inside the British town swamped with 145 barbershops once branded 'worst place to live'
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It may be only around one hour from central London but Luton faced its critics this year, even being dubbed "England's toilet". Unofficially named the UK's "worst place to live" in 2023, the Bedfordshire town was again maligned this year. Although it lost its "crown" in the viral online poll around depressing towns and cities, residents called Luton "England's toilet" in the playful survey.
And data has now emerged to show there are 145 barbershops in Luton - that's 1,593 locals per branch. There has been a 61.1% increase in barbershops since 2019 in the town, once famed instead for its manufacture of straw hats. Worryingly, when the Mirror visited Luton earlier this year, locals said they often did not feel safe in the town. Barbershops may well be popping up but employment was also mentioned as an issue, as was the lack of bars, restaurants and nightclubs.
The hat trade may have died but Luton Airport, the fourth-busiest hub serving London, remains one of the largest employers in the area. It is a base for easyJet and Ryanair. Fly to the airport, though, and one may be staggered at the sheer volume of bustling barbershops in the town itself. There is more in Luton than the whole of the conurbation of Medway in Kent, which consists of five towns.
Yet, only around 230,000 people live in Luton, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows. It means there are around 1,593 locals per barbershop. But the ample options for a light trim weren't enough for Luton to suffer in the latest poll by online community review website ilivehere.co.uk. It fell from the "top" of the pyramid, losing its perch to Falmouth in Cornwall, but the hapless Bedfordshire town still ranked 11th and took further scathing criticism.
