PEOPLE living in Hambleton, Yorkshire, could be forgiven for feeling slightly smug after it was ranked in the top five in Halifax's annual rural quality of life survey.

Top of the charts was the Orkney Islands area of Scotland, which is said to boast the best quality of life of any rural area in Britain.

The survey looked at issues such as employment rate, average earnings and average spend per pupil on education as well as anxiety levels and crime rates.

Wychavon in Worcestershire came second place in the survey, scoring highly on average life expectancy and with 95 per cent of adults there being in good health.

Other areas making the top five alongside Hambleton were the Derbyshire Dales, and Purbeck in Dorset.

They were found to all be performing well in terms of personal wellbeing and life expectancy, Halifax said.

Nowhere in the North East of England made the top 50, with Northumberland ranked at 94.

Last year's winner, South Oxfordshire, fell to 10th place in 2017, but still scores strongly on earnings, employment rate and a low crime rate.

The South East and the South West bagged 20 places on Halifax's list of the top 50 rural places with the best quality of life in 2017.