Guernsey Press

Salisbury named UK’s best place to live after Novichok poisoning attack

Salisbury took the title in The Sunday Times 2019 list.

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The city where a former Russian spy and his daughter were poisoned in a nerve agent attack has been named the best place to live in the UK.

Salisbury took the title in The Sunday Times 2019 list.

One of the judges said the Wiltshire city had shown a “real collective spirit” in the wake of the poisonings that brought it to global attention a little over a year ago.

Salisbury incident
Members of the military wear protective clothing as work continues on the home of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal (Andrew Matthews/PA)

The incident later claimed the life of Dawn Sturgess, who died after coming into contact with a perfume bottle believed to have been used in the attack on the Skripals and then discarded.

Helen Davies, The Sunday Times Home editor, said: “Salisbury has shown real collective spirit in dealing with a chemical attack that saw the cathedral city become the centre of world headlines for all the wrong reasons.

“There are still parts of the city where the clean-up continues, but to bounce back and be even stronger is a sure sign of a very special community, which is one of the reasons we have chosen Salisbury as the best place to live in Britain in 2019.

“It remains a divinely attractive and welcoming place. It’s handy for coast, countryside and London, has some of the best schools in the southwest, a great market and it’s very strong culturally, too.”

The Isle of Dogs in the borough of Tower Hamlets was named the best place to live in Greater London, Dundee the top place to live in Scotland, Crickhowell in Powys was judged the cream of the crop in Wales, while Holywood in County Down came out in front for Northern Ireland.

The judging panel used their own expert knowledge alongside statistics, including house prices, provided by Habito and TwentyCi.

Previous winners of the top title in The Sunday Times Best Places to Live include York last year, Bristol in 2017 and Hampshire in 2016.

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