Jimmy Carr mocks Bristol accent and prompts response from Stephen Merchant

The comedian, clearly missing the dulcet tones of London, was in Bristol for a show at the Hippodrome over the weekend when he claimed that while the city itself is beautiful, the accent ‘isn’t’.

It prompted a backlash from Twitter users who said they’d rather have a ‘gert lush’ accent than Carr’s ‘weird laugh’.

Others said ‘it could be worse’ and at least they didn’t have a ‘Scouse’, ‘Brummie’ or ‘Geordie’ accent.

Proud Bristolian Stephen Merchant, who grew up in Hanham was dismayed at the revelation, tweeting back to Carr: “I’ve known you 20 years and you thought my accent wasn’t beautiful? Do other people feel this way? Why didn’t you say something!”

On Twitter, @Nihilumbra00 branded the comments a ‘heart-rending betrayal’ and @Nintendoubt815 put it all down to ‘jealousy’.

Meanwhile, @the_ganer replied: “Bristolian is great - after all it’s called a “Slider” not a Slide. We do the English language as good as we do cider around these parts innit.”

And @RebeccaDoughty92 tweeted: “I love a West Country accent, it’s lovely. Bristol is a lovely city and so are the people, the ones I’ve met, at least. Coming from a scouser who hates the scouse accent, I’d rather sound Bristolian.”