MP hits back after Pendle named most anxious place to live in the UK

A survey of national well-being carried out by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) put Pendle top of the pile for anxiety, while neighbouring Ribble Valley came second for happiness. But Mr Stephenson was quick to defend his constituency.

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“We have some of the most beautiful countryside in the whole of the UK on our doorstep, so I think the figures must be wrong.

“There is a great community spirit, which we saw when the Tour of Britain came to the borough and tens of thousands of people came out onto the streets to support the event.

“Pendle is a great place and, judging by the people I come across every day, I certainly wouldn’t say it’s an anxious place.” The study, nicknamed the ‘Happiness Index’ when introduced by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2011, aims to gauge the mood of the nation.

Pendle had the highest rating of 3.6 when residents were asked “Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?”, with zero being not anxious and 10 being the most anxious.

In contrast, the Ribble Valley was the second happiest place to reside, beaten only by Fermanagh and Omagh in Northern Ireland.

When the area rated highly in a similar survey last month, MP Nigel Evans said: “It’s one of Britain’s little gems. I see people come to the Ribble Valley and their eyes light up.”

Bolsover in Derbyshire is the least contented, while Eilean Siar in the Outer Hebrides is the best location for life satisfaction.

Leader of Pendle Council, Mohammed Iqbal said: “Our own day to day experience shows we have great community spirit and positive people form a significant majority. We feel passionately about Pendle as a great place to live work and play.

“The Government’s research was for a tiny sample in Pendle, only 110 people out of nearly 90,000. So I don’t think we need to get too anxious about this one statistic. The anxiety figures for Pendle are still low and the happiness levels look fairly good.”