People living in the South enjoy a far higher quality of life than those in northern areas of the country, research indicated today.

Just four of the top 50 local authority areas that have the best quality of life are outside the South, and all of these are in the Midlands, according to high street bank Halifax.

Hambleton is the highest ranked area of Yorkshire and the Humber in terms of quality of life, and it ranks just 78th overall, while Castle Morpeth in the North East comes 114th and Congleton in the North West is 121st.

Elmbridge in Surrey topped the table for offering the best quality of life for the third year running, based on a range of factors including health and life expectancy, employment, school results, crime, house sizes and the weather.

The group found that 95 per cent of people in Elmbridge were in good health, while they had a higher than average life expectancy of 81.4 years, 75 per cent of people were employed, earning higher than average weekly incomes of £1,018.

Schools in the area produced above average results, while the area enjoys more sunshine and less rain than the rest of the UK.

Hart in Hampshire boasts the second highest quality of life, followed by Wokingham in Berkshire, Sevenoaks in Kent and South Cambridgeshire.

Overall, two thirds of the top 50 local authority areas that have the best quality of life are in the South East, while 11 are in the East, two are in the South West and just one, Richmond upon Thames, is in London.

Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Halifax, said: “The old adage of ‘health, wealth and happiness’ is the traditional measure of a good quality of life.

“For the third year running Elmbridge has delivered against a range of indicators to demonstrate that its residents have the best quality of life in Britain.”