A recent report by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) has placed Cambridge at the bottom of a list of 117 cities on comparison of shopping experience.

The list, which was ranked by the variety of shops in the city centre, found Cambridge to offer just nine different varieties of shops, with 25 of the 57 surveyed being clothing multiples.

Whitsable in Kent came top of the list having “an amazing variety of independent shops,” according to the survey.

The authors described "a bland homogeneity" in Cambridge’s city centre and highlighted the domination of big chains making it Britain’s top "clone town". The concept of a “clone town” was defined by the foundation as an urban area which had lost its identity as global and national chain stores drove out local businesses.

A spokesman for NEF, Paul Hurst, said: "Cambridge is full of wonderful buildings and I've no doubt, wonderful people, but the actual shops don't reflect the diversity you will find in Cambridge as a town.”

The report has been blasted as "nonsense" by Cambridge's Head of Tourism and City Centre Management, Emma Thornton. "It is quite apparent that the authors have either not visited Cambridge at all, or did not spend very long here," she said.

Thornton added, "Any serious shopper knows that what sets Cambridge apart as a shopping destination is the fantastic diversity of shops, many of which are independent retailers and real gems .To label Cambridge a clone town is pure nonsense."

Students at the University seemed to concur with this view. According to Rebecca Dickie, a second-year Law student, “Cambridge offers loads of variety. There are, I agree, the big chains like New Look, but there are also so many little boutiques about.”

Sebastian Armstrong, a second-year Mathematics student also highlighted “all the independent book stores and souvenir shops that definitely add some variety to the centre”.