STICKS and stones may break your bones … but not if you live in Reading.
The town has been named as one of the least clumsiest places to live in Britain.
While Glaswegians shake in Auchenshuggle and the Welsh trip over Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch, Readingians can rest easy.
A survey by an injury specialist firm claims Reading residents are among the least likely to be accident prone.
The town just sneaked into the list of the 10 safest places in the country. Out of 162,145 trips to A&E, only 3.1% were for a fracture in comparison to the national average of 5.3%.
However, the stats show safety conscious citizens might lose out when it comes to compensation.
Sasha Quail, business development manager for claims.co.uk, the company which compiled the figures, said that in accidents caused by a third party the most common claim in personal injury is negligence: “Claiming compensation can help people who have suffered an injury to receive the money they are owed for their discomfort and disruption.”
“A broken bone can be disruptive to a person’s everyday life. For those in work, a fracture can result in a loss of income, or a difficulty in caring for loved ones. It is also extremely painful and time consuming.
“This research reveals the large disparities in accident prone towns and cities across the UK; Chippenham’s fracture rate is more than 20 times higher than Portsmouth’s.”
Reading residents looking to avoid bumps and bruises this summer might consider a staycation in Portsmouth which has been named as the safest place and the least accident prone.
Skelmersdale which saw 14,675 A&E visits between 2021 and 2022 came second while Cambridge claimed third place with 2,045 fractures.
But it would be best to avoid Chippenham which takes the unfortunate top spot as the clumsiest UK city, although the higher compensation pay-outs might well fund next year’s vacation to the Seychelles.
