Middlesbrough has been found to be the worst place to live in Britain by buying agent (and Country Life contributor) Phil Spencer and his co-presenter Kirstie Allsopp. They based their findings on towns meeting the criteria of crime, environment, lifestyle, health, education and employment. The predominance of 'worst places to live' leans towards towns in the North intermingled with a heavy smattering of London boroughs. Last year's loser, Hackney has now shuffled down the list to 12th place. This is the list of Channel 4's property programme, Location, Location, Location's 'worst' places to live 2007: 1. Middlesbrough - North East (6th last year) 2. Hull - Humberside 3. Newham - East London (4th last year) 4. Nottingham - East Midlands (7th last year) 5. Merthyr Tydfil - South Wales (3rd last year) 6. North East Lincolnshire - Eastern England 7. Islington - North London (5th last year) 8. Blaenau Gwent - South Wales (9th last year) 9. Mansfield - East Midlands 10. Knowsley - Merseyside 11. Blackpool - North West 12. Hackney - East London (1ST last year) 13. Stoke-on-Trent - Staffordshire 14. Barking & Dagenham - East London 15. Doncaster - South Yorkshire 16. Cannock Chase - Staffordshire 17. Manchester - North West (10th last year) 18. Haringey - North London 19. Burnley - Lancashire 20. Hartlepool - North East The results of the best place to live will be read out during the programme to be aired tomorrow evening. Because of the controversy that these types of surveys tend to provoke, Channel 4 are asking viewers to comment back on the findings and Kirstie Allsopp stresses that 'there are some real diamonds in the rough' on the worst places list.
-
Graham Norton's elegant East London home hits the market, and it's just as wonderful as you would expectThe four-bedroom home in Wapping should be studied for how well it uses two separate spaces to create a home of immense character and utility.
-
Sign of the times: In the age of the selfie, what’s happening to the humble autograph?When Ringo Starr announced that he was no longer going to sign anything, he kickstarted a celebrity movement that coincided with the advent of the camera phone and selfie. Rob Crossan asks whether, in today’s world, the selfie holds more clout than an autograph?
