West Lancashire has been named the most peaceful place to live in the North West, according to a new study that assessed crime levels, noise pollution, access to green space and proximity to nightlife venues.
Research by property specialists SAM Conveyancing ranked every local authority in England and Wales using four measures designed to determine how peaceful an area is for residents.
West Lancashire came top in the region with a peace score of 66.8 out of 100, placing it 73rd nationally and making it the highest-ranked North West authority in the study.
The borough's recorded crime rate of 48.6 offences per 1,000 residents was found to be the second lowest in the region and among the 40 lowest of the 316 local authorities assessed across England and Wales.
Residents in West Lancashire also benefit from 41.6 square metres of publicly accessible green space per person, the fourth highest figure in the North West.
Chorley was ranked the region's second most peaceful place, scoring 63.1 out of 100 and placing 88th nationally.
The study found Chorley residents enjoy 66.4 square metres of green space each, the second-highest amount in the North West and the 23rd highest figure nationally.
Just two per cent of residents live close to a cluster of licensed premises such as pubs, bars and clubs.
Fylde also featured in the regional top five, finishing fifth with a peace score of 55.5 out of 100.
Researchers found Fylde has the quietest nights in the North West, with just 3.7 per cent of residents exposed to noise levels above 55 decibels, compared to a national median of 6.3 per cent.
Its crime rate of 53.5 offences per 1,000 residents was the third lowest in the region.
Cheshire West and Chester took third place in the regional rankings with a score of 60.5, while Cumberland finished fourth on 58.2.
At the opposite end of the table, Manchester was ranked the least peaceful local authority in the North West, placing 35th out of 35 in the region and 307th nationally with a score of 8.1 out of 100.
The city recorded 142.7 crimes per 1,000 residents and had one of the highest proportions of residents living near clusters of licensed premises.
The study analysed recorded crime figures, publicly accessible green space, proximity to licensed venues and night-time noise levels.
Researchers said noise exposure was measured at 37.7 million individual addresses using Defra's national noise maps.
Nationally, the report found more than half of the population of England and Wales, around 33 million people, live in homes exposed to road or rail noise above the World Health Organisation's recommended night-time guideline of 40 decibels.
Andrew Boast, chief executive of SAM Conveyancing, said: “Buyers spend months on the things they can measure – the price, the survey, the school catchment – and almost no time on the thing they will notice on their first night in the house, which is how quiet it actually is.
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“A Sunday afternoon viewing tells you very little about what a road sounds like at two in the morning, or what happens when the pub two streets away turns out.”
North West's 10 most peaceful places
- West Lancashire - 66.8 (Peace score out of 100)
- Chorley - 63.1
- Cheshire West and Chester - 60.5
- Cumberland - 58.2
- Fylde - 55.5
- Warrington - 55.0
- St Helens - 53.8
- Knowsley - 50.9
- Halton - 49.8
- Cheshire East - 49.5
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