Lancashire village tops the '˜best places' list for North West

Whalley, in the Ribble Valley, topped the North West section of the Sunday Times’ Best Places To Live guide - the second of a two-part series - published as a supplement in the paper.

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

The overall winner for the UK was Winchester, which 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”.

The full list is:

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