The Shropshire town always hailed as one of the UK's best places to live – but what do residents really think?

But what do people who live here really think?

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This time, the county town has been recognised by the popular luxury lifestyle website Muddy Stilettos.

Shrewsbury regularly comes near the top of national newspaper rankings for nice places to live or visit.

Although on this occasion, is the accolade all it’s cracked up to be?

Shrewsbury did not rank among the top places to live in the West Midlands in this particular list - in fact, nowhere in Shropshire was recognised.

The town of flowers was actually ranked among “the best of the rest”, so among the top 260 best places to live.

When you put it like that, it doesn’t make it feel quite so special. Still… it’s better than not being in the top 260. So, thanks Muddy Stilettos!

There is a lot to love about Shrewsbury - the Quarry, the beautiful buildings and history - and, of course, the pubs.

But it’s not all hunky dory. We regularly get hit by terrible floods. We’ve lost major festivals in the Shrewsbury Flower Show and the Shrewsbury Food Festival.

And instead, the Quarry now plays regular host to bizarre behaviour being exhibited at monthly far-right marches.

We took to the streets of Shrewsbury to find out what people love about the county town, and what they would change.

You’d be hard pressed to find a more vocal advocate for Shrewsbury than the booming voice of legendary town crier, Martin Wood.

As you’d expect, he had wonderful things to say about the town - but did have one little gripe.

“Where can you go that’s better than Shrewsbury? I love the beauty of it. I love the history. The people. The only thing I don’t like is all the road works.”

The Richardson family from Bowbrook - mum Liz, dad Aidan and boys Jamie, 13, and Marcus, 10 - love how Shrewsbury gives access to a vibrant town life but is also handy for the great outdoors.

Liz said: “I’d highly recommend it. It’s a great place to bring up a family.”

However, to make the most of the outdoors, they’re hoping for a bike park to be redeveloped.

“We’re desperate for the regeneration of the bike park near Shorncliffe. We are waiting with baited breath to see how that develops.”

Retired financial investigator Vara Williams reckons the town centre is crying out for one thing.

“We could do with a really, really good Chinese restaurant,” she said.

But Vara spoke largely in glowing terms about the county town.

“I’ve lived in Shrewsbury for about 10 years now. I moved here from Claverley. I used to come here shopping and on days out and decided I wanted to live here.

“I lived in Belle Vue and recently moved to Bayston Hill. I love it. It’s a really relaxing place to live.”

Support worker Ciara Denton is Shrewsbury born and raised, but currently lives and works in Manchester.

She feels like her home town is a great place to raise a family and retire, but is lacking in job opportunities and a busy nightlife scene for young adults.

She said: “For me the bigger cities have more jobs, more opportunities. I think maybe the young person’s scene isn’t huge in Shrewsbury. There’s only a couple of late bars that are open past 12.

“It feels like it’s great for families and retirement, but maybe not in the middle.”

However, she hailed the town’s beauty and “authentic” feel, and the range of pubs.

“It’s great for pubs actually. I know people that have come from Manchester to Shrewsbury for a pub crawl.

“I remember learning about the Tudors growing up in school and you can still really see the impact of that now when you look up at some of the really nice older buildings.”