The latest study from uSwitch has used data from 1.5 Million consumer internet speed tests (conducted between March and August 2011) to find the top 50 slowest UK streets for broadband ISP download speed. Sadly Mount Pleasant (Suffolk) came "top" with an average performance of just 0.128Mbps (too slow to be called "broadband"), which is a shocking 147 times slower than the fastest in Leamington Spa (18.865Mbps) and 53 times slower than Ofcom's national average (6.8Mbps).

Apparently the worst hit counties are those in southern England, with West Sussex and Hampshire accounting for roughly one quarter of the UK's 20 slowest streets. In reality the slowest streets are actually those that lack any broadband connectivity at all, which obviously wouldn't be featured in such a study. It's also difficult to gauge the accuracy of such data without more information.

UK Top 50 Slowest Broadband Streets
1. Mount Pleasant, Halesworth, Suffolk - 0.128Mbps
2. Forestfield, Horsham, West Sussex - 0.134Mbps
3. Inchkeith Drive, Dunfermline, Fife - 0.169Mbps
4. Faraday Avenue, Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire - 0.182Mbps
5. Baird Avenue, Kilwinning, Ayrshire - 0.225Mbps
6. Wheatears Drive, Romsey, Hampshire - 0.242Mbps
7. Furzy Park, Haverfordwest, Dyfed - 0.254Mbps
8. Calmore Drive, Totton, Hampshire - 0.267Mbps
9. Mowbray Grove, Stockton-on-Tees, Cleveland - 0.274Mbps
10. Colledge Close, Brinklow, Warwickshire - 0.279Mbps
11. Kimbells Close, Shabbington, Buckinghamshire - 0.282Mbps
12. Glenbuck Avenue, Glasgow - 0.289Mbps
13. Common Hill, Pulborough, West Sussex - 0.296Mbps
14. John O'Gaunts Way, Belper, Derbyshire - 0.298Mbps
15. Kenrick Square, Bletchingly, Surrey - 0.319Mbps
16. Marlings Park Avenue, Chislehurst, Greater London - 0.324Mbps
17. Silver Street, Chalford, Gloucestershire - 0.328Mbps
18. Spinners Drive, St Helens, Merseyside - 0.334Mbps
19. Raleigh Close, Churchdown, Gloucestershire - 0.335Mbps
20. W Way, Littlehampton, West Sussex - 0.335Mbps
21. Cromwell Avenue, Findern, Derbyshire - 0.337Mbps
22. Greyson Avenue, Lowestoft, Suffolk - 0.345Mbps
23. Phlap Street, South Hetton, County Durham - 0.349Mbps
24. George Road, Water Orton, Birmingham - 0.357Mbps
25. Bexleigh Avenue, St Leonards, East Sussex - 0.373Mbps
26. Canon Close, Ilkeston, Derbyshire - 0.383Mbps
27. Tylers Way, Chalford, Gloucestershire - 0.383Mbps
28. Ullswater Road, Urmston, Manchester - 0.384Mbps
29. Sutton Lane, Brant Broughton, Lincolnshire - 0.384Mbps
30. Langside Gardens, West Calder, West Lothian - 0.384Mbps
31. Pinfold Close, Cockermouth, Cumbria - 0.386Mbps
32. Mithras Gardens, Walton, Buckinghamshire - 0.388Mbps
33. Broadwaters Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk - 0.396Mbps
34. Riverbank, Dunmurry, Belfast, County Antrim - 0.399Mbps
35. Church Street, Hayfield, Derbyshire - 0.411Mbps
36. Warren Field, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, West Midlands - 0.421Mbps
37. Woodland Grove, Beeston, Nottinghamshire - 0.422Mbps
38. Sokeman Close, Stony Stratford, MK, Buckinghamshire - 0.426Mbps
39. Mount Pleasant, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire - 0.430Mbps
40. Elmsdale Road, Hartshorne, Derbyshire - 0.431Mbps
41. Yew Tree Avenue, Pemberton, Manchester, Wigan - 0.432Mbps
42. Fairwinds Place, Glasgow, West Dunbartonshire - 0.435Mbps
43. Pollards Moor Road, Copythorne, Southampton, Hampshire - 0.440Mbps
44. Tern Way, Wirral, Merseyside - 0.440Mbps
45. Glamorgan Road, Hartlepool, Cleveland - 0.441Mbps
46. Darren Road, Berry Hill, Coleford, Gloucestershire - 0.443Mbps
47. Adrian Avenue, Motherwell, North Lanarkshire - 0.445Mbps
48. North Road, Lakenheath, Brandon, Suffolk - 0.445Mbps
49. Chadwell Avenue, Southampton - 0.451Mbps
50. Bloomsfield, Burwell, Cambridge - 0.454Mbps

As part of its Universal Service Commitment (USC) the UK government currently aims to make a minimum broadband download speed of 2Mbps available to everybody by 2015 and it also wants 90% of the country to have access to a superfast (25Mbps+) service by the same date. Clearly there's a lot of work left to be done.

UPDATE 22nd September 2011

BT has accused uSwitch of failing to identify the slowest streets correctly by using false or out of date data. Indeed the operator noted that several of the towns were actually very close to their local telephone exchange (i.e. should be getting much faster speeds) and seven even had access to their new superfast FTTC broadband services.

uSwitch's speed tests were of course carried out by actual consumers and the site has since clarified that at least 10 tests had to be submitted for each postcode in order to be qualified for the study. Mind you some postcodes can cover a wider area and it's unclear how many tests from individual connections were made.

It's perhaps interesting to note that local speed tests don't always reflect the best available performance. Clearly none of the lines tested had adopted BT's superfast service.