A NATIONAL survey has been branded "ridiculous" after it rated Weymouth and Portland in the top ten unhappiest places to live in the UK. 

The Office of National Statistics' national wellbeing survey asks residents in local authorities around the country about their levels of happiness, anxiety and how worthwhile they feel. 

Using the results, each area is then rated out of ten in the categories.

For happiness in 2015/16, Weymouth and Portland came in with the joint tenth lowest score in the country, 7.13 out of ten, along with Dartford and Manchester.

This is a steep fall from the score of 7.59 that was recorded by the survey in 2014/15. 

The lowest rating, and unhappiest place in the UK was East Northamptonshire, with a rating of 7.01. 

Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Cllr Richard Kosior refuted that the borough was an unhappy place to live. 

"I totally disagree with it. There’s lies, damned lies and statistics really. I would totally refute that claim. Just to go by the amount of people that I have met in office. Most of them think this is a great place to live.

"It’s got problems, but what town doesn’t? It’s not just the beach, you go five miles up the road and you’re in the countryside."

Cllr Kosior mentioned Radipole Lake, Portland Port, Castle Cove and Church Ope Cove as just some of the many great places the area has to offer.

He added: "If it was that bad why would I be here? All the events that take place, why would they come? 

"Everyone I spoke to who came down for the Ironman, they thought it was a fantastic place. I find it ridiculous."

As well as Ironman, the borough hosts other major events during the year including the beach motocross and the Pommery Dorset Seafood Festival.

The borough also compares badly to neighbouring areas, with Purbeck coming in with a rating of 8.04 out of 10, the fourth highest in the country and West Dorset achieving a happiness rating of 7.86.

It was also below the national average in terms of life satisfaction and how worthwhile people felt.

People in West Dorset and Purbeck also had higher levels of life satisfaction than people in Weymouth and Portland and felt like their lives were more worthwhile.

People surveyed also suffered higher levels of anxiety than residents in West Dorset and Purbeck. 

Other places ranked as the top 10 unhappiest include Liverpool, Cambridge and Wolverhampton.

According to the survey, the happiest place to live is the Outer Hebrides, followed by Mid and East Antrim with Newark and Sherwood wrapping up the top three.