DORSET has come fifth in a survey ranking the quality of life in each county in Britain.

Country Life magazine published the results based on an assessment of each county’s health services, green policies, schools, social fabric, heritage and landscape.

Other factors taken into consideration included the quality of local food, pubs and restaurants, the number of sunshine hours and village greens there are and how many famous or influential residents the county has.

Devon swept into first place just ahead of Hampshire in second and Kent in third while Dorset came in fifth – beating Wiltshire, Cornwall and Suffolk.

Bottom of the list of 40 counties was East Yorkshire, which had been ranked seventh in the 2003 survey.

Reacting to the revelation that Dorset came fifth, publican Richard Treadwell said he first moved to the county because of its quintessential Englishness.

Mr Treadwell, who runs the Springhead pub at Sutton Poyntz, said: “I moved here with my family from Leicestershire over two years ago and it was a deliberate choice because of the quality of life here and we wanted to live somewhere that still felt English.

“This part of Dorset still feels very English – we loved the countryside and how close we are to the sea.

“My wife and I also thought there were good schools for the children.”

He added: “When we first came here we drove over the hill past Came Down.

“When we saw the view over Weymouth Bay it made an immediate impression on us.

“Then seeing the pub in April or May time with the willows over the pond and the river, it felt like being back in archetypal England.

“I enjoy bird-watching and fishing here. Another thing I like is the roads because everyone seems to slow down and take it easier.

“I used to race around the M25 all the time but there’s not as much of that here.”