Portsmouth, a dump? You must be joking, Google...

CITY leaders have hit out defending Portsmouth after a survey revealed Google search was associating a less than glamorous term with the city.
You can't be serious, Google... 
Picture: Shaun RosterYou can't be serious, Google... 
Picture: Shaun Roster
You can't be serious, Google... Picture: Shaun Roster

Research carried out by Premium Tours took a look at what everyone thinks of different cities, according to Google.

The firm used Google autocomplete to find what Google suggested as the most searched adjective associated with every UK city.

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Portsmouth’s label? A ‘dump’ – hardly glowing praise for the city.

On the upside, we seem to have fared better than some other cities, with Hull being dubbed as ‘a portal to hell.’

Deputy leader of Portsmouth City Council, Councillor Luke Stubbs said: ‘There are lots of places that come up as a dump so I would say this really shows how people use search engines – but if would be nice if it was something positive.

‘We have roughly 10m visitors per year and there is a great many things to see and do.

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‘Portsmouth is an attractive place for visitors and tourists – there are less attractive areas but I think Portsmouth is a place we can all be proud of.’

Editor of The News Mark Waldron said: ‘It’s not a perfect city, but then what city is?

‘There are areas that need improving – we ran a story recently about Portsmouth Harbour station, for instance – but it is far from being a dump.

‘This is a great place and there are great people, doing wonderful things every day.

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‘I love it here in Portsmouth because there are so many things going on and I think this survey is a bit misguided.’

A spokesman for Premium Tours said: ‘The results we must say were surprising, and most certainly to be taken with a pinch of salt.

‘We can’t say we agree with many of the suggestions Google threw up for our beloved UK cities, and we’re sure you wouldn’t either, but they did give us a giggle at least.’