Talk Radio presenter slams Sunderland live on air - despite never visiting the city

Talk Radio's Mike Graham, who hosts the station's 10am-1pm show, was discussing a study which recently deemed Sunderland the best place to live and work for over 30s.

The Liveability Index is based on a range of factors, including living costs, happiness and crime rates.

Sunderland came in first position in the index, followed by Leeds, Aberdeen and Milton Keynes.

Live on air today, Graham branded the city "ghastly".

He told his listeners: "I don't know anyone who likes Sunderland.

"I don't know anyone who has been there who says it's anything other than a completely awful, ghastly place and I'm talking about people who've studied there."

He then invited Andy Dawson, a podcaster and talkSPORT presenter who is from Sunderland, onto the show to defend his city.

The 46-year-old hoped to talk about his city's good points, but hung up the phone on Graham after the presenter admitted he had never actually visited the city himself.

Graham said he had never visited Sunderland, because everyone he knew who had been there deemed it a "dump".

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Andy, who lives in Tunstall, told the Echo: "I was hoping to go on air and sing the praises of Sunderland to the nation but it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t going to happen so I hung up, drove to Seaburn and had some chips for my dinner instead."

Andy also presents football podcast, Athletico Mince, alongside comedian Bob Mortimer.