A backlash has begun after a website article cited Marlow as one of the worst places to live in Britain.

The derisive piece – posted on I Live Here: Britain’s Worst Places to Live – describes the Thameside town as “full of smug, self-satisfied yummy-mummies and the stockbrokers who keep them”.

An unnamed author paints residents as fickle and concerned mainly with trivial matters such as new restaurants, and describes the High Streeet as “clogged with Chelsea tractors”.

The writer said: “In short, a shiny, spotless jewel concealing a rotten underside of derivatives traders, smug women who are obsessed with useless trinkets and overpriced shoes in a merry-go-round of lifestyle retail businesses, and wide boys who aspire and/or pretend to be part of this milieu.

“I intend to leave as soon as possible.”

Marlovians took to social media to criticise the article and defend their home town, with one resident calling the piece “sour grapes”.

Tracy West took to Facebook to say: “What a load of rubbish! I have lived here with my family for nearly 9 years, my view is a lovely place to live where you walk down the road and people often smile and say hello, friendly accommodating coffee shops who are child friendly, hold doors open for parents with buggy's (sic) and a beautiful park where children love to play and feed the swans.

“Yes there are expensive shops and restaurants but there is also reasonable places to shop and eat and obviously the park is free and great for summer picnics, I love living here!”

And Susan Ing-Simmons said: “The writer has clearly never actually BEEN to Marlow or met anyone who has.....”

However, not everyone was as quick to disagree with the article.

Former resident Jonathan Manley joined the debate and said: “I lived in Marlow from the age of two until the 1990s.

“It was a great place to grow up and to live in - a real community - these days I live nearby and am afraid that I have to agree - although I am sure there are plenty of good people still there.”

It comes after a Times survey listed Marlow as one of the most glamorous towns in the UK to live, beating the likes of Windsor, Ascot and St Andrews.

The newspaper hailed it as one of the “prettiest and most bustling towns on the Thames”, with the annual regatta cited as one of the top reasons for the town’s appeal.

Luckily for Marlovians, the riverside town did not make it into the Worst Places to Live top ten, which features the likes of Hull, Bradford, Croydon and Middlesborough.