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<\/p>\nA once-popular resort that was once branded \u201cCosta del Dole\u201d has been ranked as the worst in the country in a new league table of seaside towns.<\/p>\n
Rhyl, in Denbighshire, north-east Wales, came bottom of the pile in The Telegraph\u2019s Seaside Gentrification Index, which takes a look at how 20 well-known UK resorts have changed over the decades.<\/p>\n
Rhyl has long been the butt of jokes about its demise. About 20 years ago, a magazine article described it as being like \u201cBlackpool after a neutron bomb\u201d, and claimed its only visitors were drunks, the down-at-heel and drug addicts.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: UK seaside resort falling apart because it's 'peppered with dodgy characters'<\/b><\/p>\n
In its heyday, Rhyl was a more affordable option than Blackpool and was a popular place for family holidays.<\/p>\n
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But the town \u2013 like so many other UK seaside resorts \u2013 began to fall into disrepair when cheap foreign holidays soared in popularity. Businesses closed, shops fell empty and there was a general air of demise about the place.<\/p>\n
The pier \u2013 the oldest in north Wales \u2013 was demolished in 1973 and the Pavilion Theatre was bulldozed the following year.<\/p>\n
Over the next few years, projects to improve the town \u2013 including a museum and library complex and a shopping centre \u2013 failed. Later, the Ocean Beach funfair and a Sky Tower ride were shut down.<\/p>\n
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The Telegraph scathingly said: \u201cNo past, no arts or entertainment, no fun: gentrification is not suited to all seaside towns but Rhyl \u2013 once unfortunately dubbed the \u2018Costa del Dole\u2019 and, on one occasion, \u2018Blackpool after a neutron bomb\u2019 \u2013 is how not to do things.\u201d<\/p>\n
Contributors to online review sites seem to agree.<\/p>\n
One review posted on iLiveHere said Rhyl was \u201cManchester-on-Sea\u201d and called it \u201cone of the most disgusting seaside towns on Earth\u201d.<\/p>\n
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