A LEAGUE table of the best places to live in the UK says Bridport is the best area in Dorset when it comes to natural beauty.

The market town came 32nd out of almost 1,400 cities, towns and villages across England and Wales for its natural beauty credentials.

Meanwhile, picturesque Shaftesbury scored an impressive 13th out of 1,372 in the league for architectural beauty.

Property experts Garrington has ranked 1,372 places to create the definitive league table of post-Covid property hotspots.

Locations were scored on their proximity to open water, national parts and areas of outstanding beauty, the number of listed and period homes, air quality, crime figures and the number of farm shops within a three-mile radius.

Lyme Regis, where the average family home costs £520,000, came in at 15th in the overall shortlist.

Bridport was ranked 18th on the shortlist - while Weymouth came in at 28th place.

Bath took first place thanks to its architecture and nearby rolling hills and open spaces.

It scored top for its architectural beauty, 40 for its natural beauty and 269 for quality of life. The average cost of a family home is listed at £650,000.

Other locatons that appeared in the list included Tenby in Pembrokeshire, Bradford on Avon in Wiltshire, Ilfracombe in Devon and Canterbury in Kent.

Rye in East Sussex scored highest for its natural beauty.

To view the report in full visit garrington.co.uk/best-places-to-live-in-2021

Here’s how some of our other towns fared - in order of best overall score:

Lyme Regis

Overall rank: 15 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 57 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 240 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 71 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 10 / 605

Bridport

Overall rank: 18 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 32 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 202 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 117 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 12 / 605

Weymouth

Overall rank: 28 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 46 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 241 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 139 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 20 / 605

Dorchester

Overall rank: 31 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 62 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 535 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 57 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 23 / 605

Shaftesbury

Overall rank: 42 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 449 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 344 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 13 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 31 / 605

Blandford

Overall rank: 89 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 87 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 667 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 141 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 58 / 605

Swanage

Overall rank: 118 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 35 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 625 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 328 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 77 / 605

Beaminster

Overall rank: 178 / 1372

Natural beauty rank: 449 / 1372

Quality of life rank: 338 / 1372

Architectural beauty rank: 170 / 1372

Average family home cost: £350k-£650k

Rank in price band: 109 / 605