HYNDBURN has been voted one of the top 20 places in the country to live and bring up a family.
The borough was named 18th in a list of 408 towns, cities and rural districts for providing the best surroundings and facilities for a happy home life.
It easily beat swanky Chelsea, trendy Manchester and parts of leafy Surrey in the survey conducted by Reader's Digest.
The magazine asked parents what factors are most important to them when it comes to family life.
Their answers, on which the survey is based, include a low crime rate, good local hospitals, affordable family housing, good state schools and high employment.
Each area was given a score based on these factors which was then measured against statistical and demographic portraits of all 408 local authority areas in England, Scotland and Wales.
Hyndburn MP Greg Pope said: "I am delighted that people are beginning to recognise what a great place Hyndburn is. I have been saying this in London for ages. We have low unemployment and high employment and that is something we should be proud of."
Council leader Peter Britcliffe commented: "It is great news that we have come out so well in a national poll. It confirms what we believe, that Hyndburn is on the up and is becoming a better place for people to live and bring up families. I am delighted."
Sergeant Allen Davies of Accrington Police said: "We feel that Accrington is a safe place to live. There have been significant reductions in crime over the last 12 months which has been achieved by working closely with the community, enabling us to identify problems early and take immediate positive action."
Gordon Coates, a spokesman for Accrington and Rossendale College, agreed: "The area has a lot to be proud of. We couldn't be happier that Reader's Digest has confirmed what we have known all along - Hyndburn is a great place to live, work and learn."
Jo Cubbon, chief executive of the East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, said: "We are very proud of our new hospital facilities in Blackburn and Burnley which provide services for the people of East Lancashire including Hynd-burn.
"Both developments help ensure that we provide the highest quality patient care from the best possible hospital facilities."
A spokesman for the East Lancashire Primary Care Trust said: "The area has had its traditional health-related problems, with the legacy of heavy industry and poor housing conditions, but we take a very proactive approach to trying to improve the quality of people's lives.
"Our two new Accrington-based health centres are well underway. aiming to bring state-of-the-art health provision to people's doorsteps."
Rona Courtney, head of corporate and support services for Hyndburn Homes, said that Hyndburn was one of the North West's best-kept secrets.
She added: "The clearance of old housing to be replaced by new is already having an impact. We have noticed more demand to live in the area which is reflected in our own very healthy waiting list.
"Hyndburn is also close to open countryside, is accessible for the M65, has good rail links and has a friendly community atmosphere.
"It's no wonder that it is in the 20 top places to live. It seems like the secret is out."
The only area in East Lancashire to come in ahead of Hyndburn was the Ribble Valley which was ninth overall. Burnley came in 141st while Blackburn with Darwen was 163rd.
East Dunbartonshire, Scotland, whose main town is Milngavie, was named as Britain's best place to live while Reading was right at the bottom of the list.
Posh London borough Kensington and Chelsea ranked 244th and thriving Greater Manchester 328th.
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the big baldy, manchester (27/04/2007 at 14:07)
this is surely the only possible explanaition for the high ranking on the good places to live list.
having seen the light and moved out of accy, i can recommend to one and all to do the same. the people who compiled said statistics have obviously never been to accy, which was remember recently voted chav capital of britain and has one of the highest teenage single parent population's per head of anywhere in europe!
in it's defense, the majority of accringtonians are a friendly bunch, and i also think racial integration in accy is much better than other places, but if we're all being honest it really is a town on it's last legs!
Marcus, London (27/04/2007 at 14:57)
Accrington famous for:
*the first town in the country to ban outdoor drinking and put big signs up threatening to fine people caught drinking outdoors
*first town in the country to have metal detectors in pub entrances in the town centre
*Dogging
*A charity where smackheads who have been banned from every other town centre in east lancs go to get their methadone and booze
*Local crimewaves including stealing pavements from entire streets
*Amongst the highest rate of obesity (28%) in the land
Amongst the highest rates of teenage pregnancies in the land (48% above national average)
*Semi regular fights between big gangs of chavs and big gangs of asians
david, accrington (27/04/2007 at 15:06)
roy, oswaldtwistle (29/04/2007 at 21:17)
John, Gt Harwood (30/04/2007 at 00:13)
You are right Mr Baldy. The people have not visited the area. Check the first paragraph - people were asked what they thought was necessary to make a good place to live. Readers Digest then checked the wishlist against various government listings of 405 local authorities. So no one actually expresed a preference.
I think this was more about publicity for Readers Digest.(which has worked - I thought it had ceased publicaton - not seen a copy at the dentists for years)
Nevertheless, the survey must have some merit - they managed to get Blackburn with Darwen at the right end of the table!!
Sarah Jane, Dubai (03/05/2007 at 15:17)
Learn to spell and get your facts right...
I agree with other people that Accrington is the pits, but its got nothing to do with any ethnic majority, minority or whatever.
Its got a lot to do with a lack of community and thats it.
Try speaking to your neighbours or smiling at people in the street now and again - makes the world a nicer place to be.
Oh and if you dont like it, go live some place else. I did!