The 60 million people that pass by Reading in Berkshire every year on the M4 could be forgiven for thinking it was an environmental friendly town.
It boasts Britain's most visible wind turbine, exuding a green glow to passing drivers. But appearances can be deceptive.
A survey by British Gas revealed today that Reading has the highest carbon dioxide emissions per dwelling in Britain.
In a year, the average house in Reading churns out the same amount of greenhouse gas as two return flights from London to New York. Even with the wind turbine, this is more than 600 kg more than any other places surveyed.
British Gas speculates that the figure could be explained by the high number of people working from home in Reading. Or perhaps inhabitants are so rich they don't care about energy efficiency.
Either way the findings are unlikely to do much for the reputation of Reading, which has something of an image problem, despite the cheerleading efforts of Reading Roars.
In his famous journey up the Thames in Three Men in a Boat, Jerome K Jerome said: "One does not linger in the neighbourhood of Reading."
He complained that the river at Reading was "dirty and dismal". Nearly 120 years later Reading is still trying to clean up its act.
