BOURNEMOUTH has been revealed to be the happiest place to live in England.

The study looks at the most caring cities, based on a number of factors, and Bournemouth comes in as the sixth most caring city overall.

However, with a happiness score of 7.7 out of 10, the Dorset resort beat stiff opposition in Portsmouth and Leicester to score the highest in the country.

New research released by PensionBee reveals the most caring towns and cities across England by looking at 30 of the most populated towns and cities in England, and analysing nine factors relating to community spirit, charitable contributions and efforts to look after the environment.

The south coast town scored an overall rating of 54.4, with 535 fly tipping incidents, 112 registered charities and 665 volunteering searches per 100,000 people.

CEO at PensionBee Romi Savova said: “Our research highlights the caring nature of many residents in towns and cities across England, based on a range of factors relating to community, charity and the environment.

Bournemouth Echo:

“The past year has been difficult, but it’s also brought many of us together and shown how caring our communities can be. We’ve seen people go out of their way to help vulnerable neighbours, and strangers, survive during tough periods of isolation, while furloughed workforces volunteered at local charities to support them through this challenging time.

“When times are tough, communities will often pull together in a show of strength and solidarity.”

Bournemouth was ranked behind Swindon and Bristol for the South west area, who were positioned third and fifth respectively.

Norwich came out on top, with an overall score of 65.8. The city in Norfolk was found to have 49.8 charity shops and a homelessness rate of 1.15 per 100,000 people.