Shropshire home to some of happiest people

Shropshire is home to some of the happiest people in the Midlands, new figures have revealed.

People living in the county, and neighbouring Powys, have above average levels of satisfaction with their own lives, self-worth and happiness, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Those living in Telford & Wrekin had a higher than average sense of self-worth, but were slightly below average in terms of satisfaction and happiness.

The results suggest the remote Scottish isles are the best place to live. People who live in Orkney, Shetland and Eilean Siar reported the highest levels of life satisfaction, self-worth and happiness across the whole of Great Britain. They also had very low levels of anxiety, coming second only to Dumfries and Galloway.

At the other end of the scale, people living in Stoke-on-Trent had the lowest levels of self-worth and life satisfaction.

One in three people in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin reported very high levels of happiness and self-worth, with happiness levels being equally high in Powys. Only about four per cent across the two Shropshire authority areas reported very low levels of self-worth, with about 11 per cent ranking their happiness as very low.

Shropshire was the highest-ranked in the West Midlands in terms of self-worth and second for life satisfaction.

Andrew Charman, who lives in Llanfair Caereinion, near Welshpool, moved to Powys from Surrey and said he was much happier since the switch.

Mr Charman, who works on the Llanfair to Welshpool Light Railway, said: "Powys is full of happy people and I am delighted we made the move here six years ago for a more serene lifestyle. Whereas in Surrey people just blanked you, here if you just pop to the shops for a pint of milk you will stop and talk to everyone on the way."