Many of us are quick to take a swipe at our hometowns – whether it be lack of transport, nightlife or crime.

However one commuter town has had one of Britain’s most famous comedians living there for years – despite regularly criticising it in public.

Crawley, a 30-minute drive from London, is listed among England’s worst towns, according to the people who live there.

Among the locals quick to dish out mockery of the area is Romesh Ranganathan, who owns a £3million home just up the road from his childhood terrace house.

The BBC presenter lives in a six-bedroom house five miles from his humble childhood home with his wife Leesa and their three children.

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On a 30-minutes Netflix special “behind-the-scenes” show last year, the comedianwent back to his roots. He started the banterous episode by calling the town a “s*******”.

He dubs his hometown theatre The Hawth, where his has performed a number of gigs over the years, as like a “disused leisure centre” that looks “horrendous”.

Despite his mockery, Mr Ranganathan chose to stay around the local area because he loves it and it’s where his mum and brother live, a source previously said.

In the Netflix show, the comic revisits the old estate which “made” him who he is today. He said he filmed in the location because the town has been a “part of” his “whole life” and held “pleasant memories”.

The average terraced house in Crawley costs £340,000 while flats cost £246,000, according to Zoopla.

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Semi-detached and detached are a little bit more costly at an average of £404,000 and £576,000 respectively.

The Sussex town was ranked 24th worst town in a survey by the satirical website I Live Here with one user describing the town as the “armpit of the south”.

The town was deemed worse than Sunderland, Grimsby, Chatham and Hull – which were all also badly rated.

The reasons Crawley was rated so poorly include poverty, crime and a lack of infrastructure. Residents also slammed the area’s alleged lack of culture.

Talking about Romesh’s choice to live in Crawley, a source reportedly told The Mail: “Romesh could have moved somewhere flash but he decided to stay in Crawley, where his roots are. It’s where his mum and brother are and it’s a town he loves.”

“He has managed to find a space there to build his dream home, though it is rather bigger than his childhood home in one of the poorer areas of Crawley. It’s a lovely story of rags to riches which Romesh has worked very hard for.”

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