Winchester named best place to live in Britain

The best place to live in Britain is Winchester, a report has found.

The city topped the Sunday Times Best Places To Live guide - the second of a two-part series - published as a supplement in the paper.

Winchester, in Hampshire, was found to offer the best quality of life to the most people, hosting a positive community spirit, good shops and attractive outdoor spaces.

The guide called Winchester a "historic, cultured, foodie city", with excellent schools, top restaurants and friendly residents making it "practically perfect".

Home editor Helen Davies said: "Winchester thoroughly deserves its status as the best place to live in Britain.

"It offers a tasty slice of authentic history, with great transport links and fine schools. It also has an irresistible mix of food, festivals and feel-good factor."

Published annually, the guide combines data such as crime rates, house prices and school performance with local knowledge.

This weekend it reveals the best places to live in the South West, Midlands, London and the North West.

Part one looked at the best places in the South East, East, North East and Yorkshire, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Readers can share their favourite places and why they love them online using the hashtag #bestplacestolive.

Here are the regional winners:

:: East: Orford in Suffolk

:: London: Fitzrovia in central London

:: Midlands: Ledbury in Herefordshire

:: North East: Harrogate in North Yorkshire

:: Northern Ireland: Ballycastle in County Antrim

:: North West: Whalley in Lancashire

:: Scotland: Stockbridge in Edinburgh

:: South East: Midhurst in West Sussex

:: South West: Falmouth in Cornwall

:: Wales: Penarth in Vale of Glamorgan