Strabane in top ten 'worst places to live'

Strabane in Co Tyrone has held on to its unpopular tag as one of the worst places to live in the UK.

Strabane in Co Tyrone has held on to its unpopular tag as one of the worst places to live in the UK.

The town has come 8th out of 434 local authority areas throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The research has been carried out by Channel 4 and is a follow up to last year when Strabane was also named in the worst ten places to live.

The London district of Hackney tops this year's list. Results were based on five criteria for home-buyers - crime, environment, lifestyle, education and employment.

The rundown is presented by property hunters Sofie Allsopp and Phil Spencer in the forthcoming show The Best And Worst Places To Live In The UK: 2006.

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Strabane is one of a number of repeat offenders this year, including: the City of Nottingham, Hackney, Middlesbrough, Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil.

Mr Spencer said: "We've only just come out of hiding after the storm this show created last year. But it's all based on official data, we're merely presenting the facts - harsh as they may be."

Allsopp said: "All the research is rock solid, we look at every single local authority, all 434 of them, and the figures speak for themselves."

The Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK: 2006 will be broadcast on October 26th on Channel 4.

The worst 10 are:

1. Hackney, east London

2. Tower Hamlets, east London

3. Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales

4. Newham, east London

5. Islington, north London

6. Middlesbrough, North East

7. City of Nottingham, East Midlands

8. Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland

9. Blaenau Gwent, south Wales

10. Manchester, North West

PA