People living in Oxfordshire are amongst those enjoying the best quality of life in Great Britain, research claimed today.

The county came sixth in Halifax's quality of life survey, which scored each county in Great Britain according to a range of factors, such as employment, earnings, housing quality, weather, crime, education and health.

People living in Buckinghamshire were found to have the highest quality of life, followed by those in Surrey and then Berkshire.

Counties in Greater London and the South East dominate the list, providing eight of the top 10, with Suffolk coming in seventh place, while the Vale of Glamorgan came in eighth, thanks to its relatively large homes, high owner occupancy rates, high life expectancy and good GCSE results.

The highest placed county in Scotland was East Dunbartonshire, which was ranked 15th in the survey due to its high employment and owner occupancy rates, generally good health and good education results.

Oxfordshire, Midlothian and Worcestershire have the highest employment rate at 81% of the population, while those in Kensington and Chelsea are the highest paid, earning an average of more than £62,000 a year.

Cambridgeshire was found to be the driest county in Britain, receiving an average of just 560mm of rain a year, while the Isle of Wight was the sunniest, with around 34.2 hours of sunshine a week.

People in Buckinghamshire are also the healthiest, with 95% saying their health is either good or fairly good, while life expectancy is also highest in the county, with newborns expected to live for an average of 79.5 years.

Primary school class sizes are smallest in the Western Isles, with an average of just 14.4 pupils per class, while exam results are highest in East Dunbartonshire for Scotland and Redbridge in Greater London for England.

Halifax found that average house prices in the top 10 counties with the best quality of life trade at a premium of 6.5% of their region as a whole.

House prices in Buckinghamshire average £313,644, making it the 25th most expensive place to live in the country, while Surrey is the 14th most expensive county with prices averaging £364,115, and Berkshire is the 24th at £315,693.