The author of a best-selling book ranking Britain's towns in order of "crapness" is to run the gauntlet in Didcot tomorrow.

When Sam Jordison wrote Crap Towns in 2003, thousands of people living in places like Middlesbrough, Hull, Croydon, Luton and Wolverhampton told why where they lived was so bad.

The results were collected and published as a series of books.

Didcot came 20th in the rankings.

Mr Jordison, 30, who grew up in Morecambe, Lancashire, is in Abingdon to promote his new book Annus Horribilis - and has agreed to revisit Didcot.

He is to be taken around the town by MP Ed Vaizey and Alison Adams, the director of Didcot First - a group set up to change people's perception of the railway town.

It is four years since Mr Jordison visited Didcot, so could it be that it is no longer "crap"?

He said: "I am yet to be convinced.

"It is a while since I have been there and it was actually people from Didcot that said they didn't like the place. Obviously, the power station figured but it's the same sad story - town planning gone wrong and unplanned expansion.

"Sometimes organisations like Didcot First do good work, but it's very rare that I agree with a Tory MP.

"The idea for Crap Towns developed from growing up near Morecambe.

"The sad thing about it is that it's in a beautiful location but few resources are diverted to it.

"I am looking forward to tomorrow's event. I would like to live in one of the nice country houses on the outskirts of Didcot, but I would be surprised if I ever lived in the town itself."

In Crap Towns, Mr Jordison suggested Didcot existed because of "a void - the railway junction between the London-West coast and the Oxford lines".

He pointed to the empty shops on one side of Broadway facing houses on the other, which he felt ensured no atmosphere or privacy for residents.

He added: "Didcot has been the subject of a large-scale, completely unplanned expansion."

The Crap Towns concept started as a website where residents could swap tales.

Ms Adams said: "When we realised the author of the Crap Towns book was coming to Abingdon for a book signing, we saw it as an ideal opportunity to have a dialogue with him.

"We want to show him how much the town has changed since the book was published a few years back."

Mr Vaizey's spokesman Dan Abernethy said: "Ed will meet the author of Crap Towns who has come to pay penance after naming Didcot as one of the 50 worst places to live."

10 REASONS WHY DIDCOT ISN'T BAD

1. Didcot Railway Centre: The centre is run by members of the Great Western Society and contains an impressive collection of engines, some of which are fully restored and can frequently be seen in steam

2. Didcot Wave: A swimming pool with a wave machine

3. Orchard Shopping Centre: The new shopping centre boasts a range of high street names and a large, recently opened cinema

4. Science: The town is near to a number of major scientific centres including the UKAEA at Culham, Harwell Laboratory, the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the Diamond Light Source

5. The Ridgeway: The town is closely located to the ancient trackway - the oldest road in the world - and the rolling landscapes of the North Wessex Downs

6. Football: The town's club, Didcot Town FC, won the FA Vase in 2005.

7. According to an Office for National Statistics study, the 1990s-built Ladygrove estate has the highest healthy life expectancy in England and Wales

8. History: Didcot dates back to the Iron Age, and first appeared in historical records in the 1200s as Dudcotte in Berkshire. Traces of its pre-industrial history remain

9. Religion: Didcot is the base of operations for the Baptist Union of Great Britain and the BMS World Mission

10. The town is home to a large number of charity shops, great for cut-price shopping with a heart.