We live in the UK’s ‘dirtiest’ city – visitors say it’s like a ‘third world’ country, but they don’t know the truth
FURIOUS homeowners living in Britain’s “dirtiest” city have stuck up for their neighbourhood after it was compared to “a third world country”.
A TikTok video has sparked a backlash after condemning the West Midlands city of Coventry.
Social media influencer Rafay, who has more than 400,000 followers online, has been told to stay away after being unimpressed during a visit.
The 29-year-old had uploaded a video on his TikTok page, telling viewers: “I am on my way back to London and I had to stop by in Coventry.
“It is a third world country.”
He complained about rubbish dumped in the street, litter in gardens and fly-tipping in the district of Foleshill as he travelled back to the capital from Manchester.
Rafay described himself as “shocked” by the state of the streets and suggested the place looked “as if it had pretty much been given up on” and “living in 1970”.
But residents have hit back, writing of their outrage on CoventryLive‘s Facebook page.
One, Liam Cook, wrote: “Don’t like our city? Don’t come here.”
Another, Shereen Le’Fevre, urged him: “Don’t judge a whole city compared to what you briefly saw whilst charging your car in a rundown area.”
She insisted there were “lots of lovely parts in our city” despite Foleshill’s problems.
Yet others did agree with Rafay’s criticisms, with Chris Cannon said: “It’s true, though, there are a lot more areas in Coventry like this.
“It is like a third world country now.”
And Pete Croft suggested the area had “always been a dump”.
Rafay’s video has attracted more than 2,600 comments and received almost 190,000 online “likes”.
Comments posted beneath the 68-second clip include Zak saying: “I’m from Coventry – every city has slums, every city has mansions.”
Another viewer wrote, “The UK has a serious issue with litter – it’s like people don’t even care”, but Rafay was also rebuked for “going to the worst area to describe the whole city”.
Others encouraged him to visit other places in the UK if he thought Coventry was bad – suggesting nearby Birmingham and West Bromwich, as well as Blackpool, Bristol, Derby or Middlesbrough.
Complaints about Coventry have previously been made by residents living on the site of Coventry City’s former Highfield Road home ground.
Elsewhere in the city there have been concerns raised about plans for a new McDonald’s drive-thru restaurant.
And a three-bedroom terraced property in Coventry was branded Britain’s “filthiest” home, piled high with rotting rubbish and broken furniture.
And a spate of burglaries in Foleshill – the area visited by Rafay – previously deterred families from putting presents under Christmas trees.