CHRISTCHURCH has been named the fourth happiest place to live in Britain. Rightmove's happy at home index put Leigh-on-Sea as the happiest place to live, with Farnham in Surrey second and Monmouth in Wales coming third.

The findings follow a survey of more than 21,000 people by Rightmove, which asked people how happy they are with where they live across 219 areas in Britain, based on factors such as community spirit, feeling safe, earning enough money to live comfortably, proximity to green spaces and amenities, friendliness and artistic and cultural activities.

Last month, the annual Office for National Statistics survey, which covers the 12 months to the end of March, asked people aged 16 and over to rate four areas of their personal well-being.

Three of the areas – their happiness, life satisfaction and sense of the things they do in life being worthwhile – are ranked on a scale from zero to ten with ten being the highest. The UK average is 7.52.

Christchurch residents were ranked among the happiest in the UK, the figures suggested, with an average happiness score of 8.06.