• Val Hart (Letters, 16 April) must surely acknowledge that for the actual pronunciation of the name “Middlesbrough”, class is a guide to quite a large extent. Derivation thought to stem from the abnormaly high level of smog in the small town with equally poor football team of the same name. No idea what happened to the Wearside accent. A hacking cough. Middlesbrough (/ ˈ m ɪ d əl z b r ə / MID-əlz-brə) is a large post-industrial and market town in North Yorkshire, England, the local council is Middlesbrough Council, a unitary authority.The 2011 Census recorded the borough's total resident population as 138,400 and the wider urban settlement as 174,700, making it the largest settlement within the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire. His gormless look and then his weird walk away at the end! Geordie and Teesside accents. I was watching this on the news and this man from Middlesbrough cracked me up.