The North Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate the spa town famous for ‘healing’ mineral waters, has been crowned as the happiest place to live in Britain in a report which asked people how contented they are with their home and local community.

The survey of nearly 50,000 people by property website Rightmove also suggests that it's not so grim up North after all, and that someone living in Hull or Preston is generally happier with their surroundings than someone residing in Twickenham in London or in Oxford.

Inverness in Scotland was ranked second in the "happy at home" index, while Taunton, Stockport, Falkirk, Hull, Preston and Truro were also named as being among the top 10 happiest places to live in the country.

The survey asked people questions such as how proud they are of their home, whether they are satisfied with how it is decorated, how safe they feel in their community, whether they have enough living space, how friendly the neighbours are and whether they worry about the value of their property.

Despite the strength of demand currently being felt in the London property market and the average price tag in the capital standing at around £459,000, the 10 places where people reported the lowest levels of satisfaction with where they live were all situated within London.

The survey also found that people living in Kirkcaldy in Fife feel they have the most space to live in comfortably, while those living in West Central London feel they have the least.