Watford has been ranked in the top three of a “best places to live” index.

The borough council is celebrating after the UK Vitality Index gave the town the bronze medal place in its ranking of the UK’s 100 largest urban areas outside London.

Although pipped to the post by Bath and Woking, Watford’s schools, businesses and green spaces helped the town earn an enviable assessment from property consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton.

See the index here

The report was split into economy and business, living (including education), and health and environment categories. 

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Watford was the only urban area in the top 10 for all three categories.

Watford mayor Peter Taylor said he was “proud that Watford is being recognised across the UK as an outstanding place to live and do business”.

Overall, the list’s top ten was dominated by the South of England and saw a complete absence of northern, Welsh, Scottish, and Northern Irish towns and cities.