People living in London 'have highest anxiety' in UK

People living in London are on average the most anxious in the UK, new figures suggest.

More than one in five Londoners questioned by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said they had high anxiety levels.

The ONS asked people to rate their life satisfaction and personal wellbeing on a scale of zero to ten- zero being "not at all" and ten being "completely".

The poll suggested people in Northern Ireland were the happiest in the UK.

Life satisfaction

Londoners rated their anxiety as 3.3, which was the highest average rating for anxiety in the UK. The average rating across the UK was 3.

The ONS used data from the Annual Population Survey from April 2012 to March 2013, which included the responses of about 165,000 people.

Dawn Snape, head of personal wellbeing at the ONS, said: "London has the most disposable income but very little life satisfaction and very high anxiety."

The ONS said a number of factors could contribute to the ratings, including the fact that London had the highest crime rates and the highest population growth between 2011 to 2012.

"There are huge disparities within London, for instance average life expectancy in Tower Hamlets is 78.8 compared to 84 in Kensington and Chelsea," Ms Snape said.

"We know that health is a really important factor contributing to personal wellbeing."

London also had the lowest average rating for life satisfaction at 7.3 compared to the national average rating of 7.5.

People living in the boroughs of Ealing and the City of London said they were the happiest in the capital with an average rating of 7.4, while people living in Islington had the lowest average rate in London at 6.9.

The average happiness rating in the UK was 7.3.