Telford

Telford is a new town and the largest town in Shropshire. With a population of just under 156,000, Telford is the only town in the county with a population exceeding 100,000. The town was largely developed in the 1960s-1970s and was named after the Scottish-born civil engineer Thomas Telford (1757-1834), who was responsible for many road, rail and canal projects in Shropshire.

The county town, Shrewsbury, lies around 15 miles to the west. The Wrekin is around 6 miles to the north. The M54 motorway links the town with the Black Country; Wolverhampton, Staffordshire lies 18 miles to the south-east, with Birmingham, Warwickshire being around 30 miles away in the same direction.

Telford lies at the heart of the grooming gang scandal in the United Kingdom, with one of the most notorious grooming gangs operating in the area.