THE UK's happiest places to live have been revealed in a new survey, with Altrincham ranked third in the North West.

Overall Leigh-on-Sea has been crowned the cheeriest town to live in Britain, with the Surrey town of Farnham coming in second and Monmouth in Wales third.

When it comes to the North West, Macclesfield has been voted the happiest place to live. It beat Kendal and Altrincham, with the areas being ranked second and third respectively.

Meanwhile, Bury was voted eighth in the region and 67th nationally.

Bolton came in 19th place in the North West and landed in at 161st place overall.

Oldham was named the 24th happiest place to live in the North West, and 204th overall.

The findings follow a survey of more than 21,000 people by Rightmove, which asked people how happy they are with where they live across 219 areas in Britain, based on factors such as community spirit, feeling safe, earning enough money to live comfortably, proximity to green spaces and amenities, friendliness and artistic and cultural activities.

Last month, the annual Office for National Statistics survey, which covers the 12 months to the end of March, asked people aged 16 and over to rate four areas of their personal well-being.

Three of the areas – their happiness, life satisfaction and sense of the things they do in life being worthwhile – are ranked on a scale from zero to ten with ten being the highest. The UK average is 7.52.