City leaders have hit back after Bradford was branded in a survey today as the place city travellers least wanted to visit due to it being “dangerous, ugly and boring”.

The findings, from a poll of 5,000 people, have been branded as “poppycock” by Dale Smith, the deputy leader of Bradford Council.

The district’s tourism chief, Jane Glaister, pointed to the fact that the National Media Museum is the most visited museum outside of London and Bradford is Unesco’s City of Film. And Councillor Anne Hawkesworth, the Council’s executive member for environment and culture, challenged people to come to Bradford to see for themselves what the city has to offer.

Coun Smith said: “I have said before that I find the Bradford district a very safe place to live.

“There are many vibrant and magical spots – I was at the Alhambra the other week and it was packed.

“Clearly people are very ready to come into the city centre and do so in great numbers.”

Coun Hawkesworth said: “There are fantastic places in the Bradford district and people should really come and see them rather than reciting the down-beat stories that people tend to repeat.”

Other towns and cities in the least-attractive to visitors list were Wakefield – said to be “dull and depressing” – St David’s in Wales, Wells in Somerset and Ripon, North Yorkshire.

London led the list of the most-visited cities ahead of Birmingham, Manchester, Edinburgh and York.

Shakila Ahmed, of Travelodge, conceded that its survey’s findings could be based on people’s misconceptions about places. She said: “We live in a world of misconceptions, and often don’t realise it. A significant proportion of the images of cities we have in our minds may be biased, out-of-date and not in tune with reality.”