A comedian touring the UK called Swindon a "soulless bumhole of a place" after struggling to sell tickets to his stand-up gig here. 

Mike Bubbins criticised the town in a video on Twitter ahead of an appearance at an Old Town venue as part of his Throwback tour.

His stops at venues in Cardiff, Port Talbot and London were more popular, often selling out entirely, so our apparent lack of interest seemed like an anomaly.

He described his piece to cameraphone as a "love letter to soulless culture-vacuum Swindon," which he pointed out was "the only destination on the tour to get a bespoke video."

He said: "I've had so many nice gigs all over the place, all lovely audiences and great crews, good nights, beers with the punters, and seen some lovely parts of the country, so I want to say a massive thank-you.

"The only blot really is Swindon - 80 people in a town of 186,000. What an absolute bumhole of a place.

"You talk about it with other comics, I don't know anyone who enjoys playing there. A soulless, lifeless commuter town.

"In the Wikipedia entry, there's a brag that it is equidistant between Reading and Bristol, it's a place you really need to know about.

"I'm not going to tell you where [the gig] is in Swindon or what time it is, I don't give a f***.

"If you're one of the 80, we'll have a great night, a lovely night. If you're one of the 220 that are not there, well, enjoy.

"Enjoy the fact that you're equidistant between Reading and Bristol, enjoy that you're a medieval village in the Domesday Book that is now in New Town.

"Enjoy walking around identikit estates trying to work out where an address is.

"Just soak in the ambience of the place. Just soak in the ambience of the concrete and the roundabouts.

"If you ever want to move out of Swindon, you have my backing 100 per cent."

 

Just days ago Sex Education star Eshaan Akbar, who is doing a stand up gig in the town on Tuesday, told the Adver: “I feel like everyone hates me because no one is buying tickets to my show so immediately I’m like what is going on in Swindon and what have I done to you?”

Mike's message has actually ended up boosting sales, as he confirmed in a Tweet on Friday, that also described the Arts Centre as a lovely room with very friendly staff.

He added: "I hope my widely shared description of the town as a ‘soulless bumhole’ wasn’t misconstrued as a slight on Swindon.”