Most desirable postcodes in the UK revealed

The study, commissioned by Royal Mail, analysed factors such as jobs, health, education and crime

A double rainbow appears over the SP9 postcode of Tidworth in Wiltshire (Rex)

The UK’s most desirable postcodes, based on criteria including crime, jobs and health, have been revealed by Royal Mail.

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Out of around 1.8 million postcodes in the UK today, the SP9 postcode of Tidworth in Wiltshire scored top marks in England, while South Glasgow (G44) came first in Scotland and Brynteg on Anglesey (LL78) was said to have the most desirable postcode in Wales.

Read more: The best streets in Britain: where to stay

The study, by the Centre for Economic and Business Research, was commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of the allocation of postcodes to every address in Britain, which the Royal Mail said “revolutionised” the way post was sorted and delivered.

Each area was assessed on a range of factors including employment opportunities, health, education, crime rates and housing affordability.

Completing the top three postcodes in England were the Hampshire village of Yateley (GU46) and the seaside resort of St Bees in Cumbria (CA27). In Scotland Erskine (PA8) and Largs (KA30) were in second and third place, while in Wales it was Llantwit Major (CF61) and Llanidloes (SY18).

Steve Rooney, head of Royal Mail's address management unit, said: “The invention of the postcode revolutionised the way post is sorted and delivered. As it has evolved, the postcodes have also revolutionised the way companies do business.

"The postcode is now used by businesses and individuals in their everyday activities, whether that is verifying a person's address when making a transaction or planning a route on a sat-nav system."

Overall, there are 48 million postcodes available under Royal Mail’s alpha-numeric system. The combination of letters and numbers was chosen because people can remember a mixture of numbers and letters more easily than a list of numbers and it gives more code combinations.