Richmond borough has been voted the happiest place to live in London.

A survey by property website Rightmove had the leafy west London borough come out on top, closely followed by Kingston, Bromley and Sutton.

However, the survey found Richmond only the 39th best borough in which to live, out of 206 local authorities.

The ‘unhappiest’ London borough was Barking and Dagenham, which was also found to be the least happy place to live in the UK.

The Essex seaside town Leigh-on-Sea came out on top, with contributing factors cited including ‘high community spirit’ and ‘strong sense of belonging’.

Earlier this year, the Sunday Times found Barnes, in Richmond’s north-east corner, to be in the top ten best places to live in London.

Deputy leader of Richmond Council, Councillor Geoffrey Samuel said: “This just proves what I have always known – that Richmond is best place to live in London.

"With all our beautiful parks and open spaces it is no-wonder that we continue to top this poll.

"Our latest resident survey showed that 97% of residents were satisfied with local area.

"From the village feel in Ham, all the way to 1930’s style in Whitton.

"We are the best in London and almost the whole country for value for money.

"We also have great schools, and are one of the safest boroughs.

"We are the envy of London.”