Towns in north Shropshire have been ranked as some of the highest and lowest in the UK.

Garrington Property Finders compiled a list of the best towns to live in the UK and have named Oswestry in the top half while Wem reached the upper quarter but Whitchurch was named in the bottom third.

Oswestry came in 685th of 1429 towns analysed while Wem came in 294th while Whitchurch came in at 1036th.

The company insists that the list does not reflect the worst places to live, saying: "The research only ranks the best places to live, so being included – whether at number 1 or number 1,429 – is to be applauded."

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Garrington “who offer a wide range of property related services for all of your home search requirements” based their analysis on ‘Natural Environment’, ‘Wellbeing’, ‘Heritage and Culture’, ‘Schools’, ‘Employment and Connectivity’, ‘House Price Quality and Value’ and ‘Average family home cost’.

Whitchurch - a well-regarded market town situated next to famous nature reserves with over 100 listed buildings – has the 999th best natural environment in the UK according to the list, with Oswestry coming in 549th. By comparison Middlesbrough was 654th, Slough 872nd, and Wolverhampton 500th.

However, Whitchurch was not the lowest raked town in Shropshire with Market Drayton being ranked in the bottom 10 per cent at 1297th.

Elsewhere across Shropshire, Shrewsbury was named 797th and Bayston Hill came in 772nd. In the south of the county Bridgnorth comes in 651st while Ludlow was the second highest in Shropshire at  260.

Telford came in 359th while the highest rated town in Shropshire was Newport which was rated 160th in the UK.

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Across the border Welshpool was also named in the bottom third at 1,183rd while Wrexham came was ranked at 701st.

The best place to live in England and Wales, according to the list, is Twyford in Berkshire, the childhood home of the Princess of Wales.

Second was St Albans in Hertfordshire, and third was Epsom in Surrey.

The best place to live in the "Midlands" was listed as the Peak District town of New Mills, which is actually between Stockport and Sheffield.