Egham named spam capital of the UK

Egham in Surrey has been named the most-spammed town in the UK

Egham in Surrey has been dubbed the most-spammed town in the UK.

According to a recent study by Message Labs, Egham received more spam messages per business than any other place in the nation. On average, business users in Egham receive some 189 spam emails every day.

Hot on Egham's heels were Alton and Petersfield in Hampshire, with 167 and 116 spam messages per business user respectively.

Hampshire also claimed the least-spammed town in the UK, with business users in Fareham receiving just two spam emails per week on average.

Sutton was the lone representative from Greater London, coming in fifth on the list, while Dundee in Scotland ranked seventh.

Message Labs noted that there were some unlikely names on the list, such as St. Peter's Port, Guernsey in the Channel Islands.

"It's a given that larger cities such as London, Birmingham and Manchester will receive a high total number of spam emails," said Message Labs senior anti-spam technologist Matt Sergeant.

"However, by breaking statistics down to an average number per business user, the results are much more interesting."

The company noted that, globally, the UK does very well in spam rankings. No large city in the country was among the 25 most spammed in the world. London is 28th, followed by Manchester at 81st and Leeds at 91st.

Message Labs estimates that just 15 per cent of UK spam was from a domestic source. The US, China and Russia are credited with sending out the bulk of UK spam.