WH SMITH has been voted the worst high street shop in the UK.

This is the fifth time in eight years that the retailer has ranked at the bottom of a survey of Which? readers.

In the other three years, it was ranked second-worst.

The head office of the books and stationery retailer is based in Swindon.

Customers complained about WH Smith's apparent poor customer service, out-of-date stores, and expensively-priced products.

A WH Smith spokesperson said: “Only 184 people commented on WH Smith as part of this survey.

"We serve 12 million customers each week and, despite a challenging retail environment, we continue to open new shops, and to maintain our presence on the UK high street.”

The survey asked more than 10,000 shoppers to rate their experience in buying non-grocery items at 100 major retailers.

Every retailer was then ranked based on customers' experiences of buying items other than groceries, their level of satisfaction and the likelihood of recommending each shop.

The survey was carried out in January.

Last year, Morrison's was voted the worst shop on the high street.

Now, WH Smith has now reclaimed its position at the lowest end of the list.

The shop's inadequacies have been humorously chronicled by the popular Twitter account WHS_Carpet, which has more than 12,000 followers.

The account posts examples sent in by shoppers of poor shelving, rude staff, and other issues similar to those mentioned in the responses to Which?'s survey.

Card shop Clintons was just above WH Smith in the survey results, then Evans and Sports Direct came in at joint third-worst.

Toys R Us, JD Sports, Dorothy Perkins/Burton, Halfords, and Miss Selfridge, which all have branches in Swindon, were also criticised by Which? readers and placed near the bottom of the rankings.

It wasn't all bad news - Lush, Savers, and Smyths Toys shared the honour of being voted the best UK high street shops.

Screwfix and Toolstation were just below them, followed by Bodycare and Richer Sounds, then The Perfume Shop and Waterstones.

Ben Clissitt, Which? magazine editor, said: “Our findings show that if retailers can strike the right balance between good value, quality products and first-class customer service, shoppers will keep coming back to their stores.”