Mid Sussex has been named as one of the most desirable places to live in the UK.

The area was named as the 17th most popular place to live in the country in an annual quality of life survey by Halifax.

But the vicinity, including Haywards Heath, Burgess Hill and Cuckfield, dropped two places from last year’s position of 15th.

The listings were compiled based on health and life expectancy, crime rates, weather, employment and the performance of local schools.

Christopher Snowling, Mid Sussex Cabinet member for health and community, said standing firm against proposals like the Mayfield Town development was instrumental in maintaining Mid Sussex’s allure.

He added: “We’re an area of three small-ish towns and plenty of rural areas. We try our best to listen to our residents and act on what they deem best.

“We don’t want to be overloaded by developments and proposals that would put unnecessary strain on our infrastructure. I think our goal for next year would be to improve on our position.”

Hart in Hampshire has been crowned the most desirable place to live in the UK for the third year in a row, with no other Sussex authorities making the grade.

Nestled in the north-east corner of Hampshire, residents of Hart were found to be the healthiest with 97.4% of residents reported to be in good or fairly good health.

Continuing a trend, the south east dominated the top 50 list, claiming a total of 24 mentions.

Martin Ellis, an economist at Halifax, said: “The old adage of ‘health, wealth and happiness’ is the traditional measure of quality of life.

“For the third year running Hart has delivered against a range of indicators to demonstrate its residents have the best quality of life in the UK.”