MAYOR of Huntingdon Cllr Bill Hensley is fuming that the town has been nominated for the latest book in the Crap Towns series.

Huntingdon and Haverhill are in the longlist of 100 towns put forward for Crap Towns Returned.

Cllr Hensley said: “I am very, very shocked. I my opinion it is a load of rubbish.

“If it was a crap town I certainly would not have wanted to be mayor.”

Will Austin, Haverhill town clerk, challenged anyone who thought the town was “crap” to go on a tour which he would lead.

Huntingdon and Haverhill could still escape because only 50 towns will go into the book when it is published in the autumn. Some of the most attractive towns in the country have been nominated.

Huntingdon’s Chequers Court shopping area featured on the front of Crap Towns II.

Cllr Hensley said: “It is very upsetting that anybody could even think Huntingdon was a crap town.

“Last year it had the most vibrant high street in the country.”

He said the Chequers Court area was being demolished in a £25 million redevelopment scheme which would not be happening if the town was crap.

Mr Austin said: “People have a positive picture of life in the town and would be very angry if someone suggested otherwise.

“I find Haverhill to be one of the loveliest places I have lived and it has a very strong community spirit.”

Mr Austin said there had clearly been a mistake because they had been nominated for “Carp Towns”, a directory of fishing locations, adding: “West Town Park in Haverhill has a particular reputation as a peaceful and beautiful spot for local anglers.

“It appears my confusion arose because the original report referred to the book as ‘Crap Towns’, obviously a misprint in the article in The Grauniad which has a longstanding reputation for its ‘carp’ proofreading.”

Writers of the book have given residents a chance to respond by making a video on www.videofy.me and uploading the results to Twitter at either #craptown or #notacraptown.

julian.makey

@cambridge-news.co.uk