MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

London city, Europe’s dirtiest but also has the best nightlife

London has been named the dirtiest city in Europe for the second year running, in a new poll. It was also seen as the most expensive city on the continent and as having the most tourist traps and the worst-dressed locals, according to the latest TripAdvisor.

However on the plus side, the UK capital was thought to have the best free attractions, the best public parks and the best nightlife. Some 36% of travellers who were polled reckoned London was the dirtiest European city - well ahead of Paris in second place with 9%.

The cleanest city was considered to be Copenhagen, while the best bargain city was Prague, the friendliest was Dublin and the most boring was Brussels. Half of those polled rated London best for public parks, with Paris a distant second with just 7%.

The survey polled 2.376 European travellers and was carried out by the TripAdvisor company.

One traveller writing a review on the TripAdvisor site said: “I have travelled quite a lot and there are no parks in the world like the ones in London, especially St James's Park”

Paris had the best-dressed locals and the best cuisine, but was easily the least-friendly city and also the most over-rated. The French capital lost out to Venice as the most romantic city while Warsaw had the ugliest architecture.

London was also seen as having the worst cuisine, despite boasting some of the world's best restaurants.

The Polish city of Krakow was considered to be the most under-rated, followed by Bruges and Edinburgh.

TripAdvisor spokesman Luke Fredberg said: ”Europe's capital cities all have their highs and lows, but no other continent offers travellers such a wealth of culture and sights within such short distances. Despite London emerging as the dirtiest and most expensive city, its fantastic free attractions prove that you don't need to be a millionaire in order to enjoy the capital”.