A WEB page branding Swindon people ignorant, lazy and selfish has been condemned by council leader Kevin Small and MP Julia Drown.

Called How to Become a Swindonian, the page is part of a site called BogGoblin, which bills itself as satire.

The site's authors claim they are non-Swindonians living in the town.

Its advice for would-be Swindonians includes: "The first thing to learn is that you don't know, you don't care and you don't like anyone who knows more than you.

"If anyone tries to tell you anything, look at them, slack jawed and with glazed eyes, then, when they are done, say 'yeah' in a guttural drawl."

The site also sums up the attitude of Swindonians as: "Me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine. Now, now, now."

The authors claim non-locals living in Swindon can be spotted ". . . leaving Swindon at the earliest possible occasion".

In addition, the site says Swindonians hate ". . . people from social minorities because you're ignorant and you don't understand them."

Swindonians are also accused of hating ". . . people who are smarter than you (which is just about everyone)."

But a furious Kevin Small, himself a Swindonian, retort-ed: "I'm sick of people who constantly try to mock our town. If they don't like it, why don't they go and live some-where else?

"These people clearly don't know Swindon or true Swindonians. Swindon has a lot going for it. It's not perfect, but if you look at other towns and cities of our size, we have a lot of facilities that others haven't."

Coun Small also accused the critics of being jealous of Swindon's prosperity, as did South Swindon MP Julia Drown. She said: "This isn't the first time that people have tried to have a go at Swindon.

"Their picture of Swindon-ians is not at all what I see every day in our town.

"People are jealous of our success and our strong community, and I would suggest we ignore these criticisms." The creators of the website declined to comment.

Two years ago, there was similar controversy over the entry for Swindon on another site, The Knowhere Guide, which claims to offer unbiased assessments of places by those who know them.

Although many positive comments are recorded, the negative ones include: "Some-how, whenever I leave, the whole damn ethos seems to follow me like leprosy."

Another writer claims there is a "bewilderingly small gene pool" and adds: "Swindon must be one of the most inbred towns in Britain."

www.boggoblin.co.uk

www.knowhere.co.uk

(Both sites contain adult language.)