Sunderland ranked in the top ten safest places to live in the UK - this is why

Looking at everything from crime rates, ambulance response times and even the weather, number-crunchers working for Compare the Market ranked UK cities in order of how safe they were to live.

Sunderland came in at seventh place, one behind Newcastle and on above Edinburgh - but came behind big cities Birmingham and Manchester, and the Northern Irish capital Belfast - areas which may traditionally have been seen as less safe than the North East of England.

A spokesman for Compare the Market said: "Whether you’re raising a family or living alone, safety and security are a vital feature of any property.

"You want to know that you won’t be robbed, struck by lightning, or have your house collapse, and in the case of a crisis, that help will reach you quickly.

"With that in mind, conducted a study of the 30 largest cities in the UK to identify the safest places to live, so you can put your mind at ease when moving."

The factors studied included analysis of crime, the age of properties in the area, ground movement, A&E response times, doctors per person, and the frequency of thunderstorms.

The report lists Sunderland as having 489 crimes committed per 100,000 population, breaking down to 59 burglaries and seven robberies.

The study's analysis of medical issues shows 90.3% of people wait less than an hour if they need to visit A&E in Sunderland, with ambulance response times of 6.07minutes and 0.8 doctors per person.

The flooding incidents were listed as 0%, and ground movement was also registered as zero. There are an average of seven days of thunder a year, according to the study.

The average property age for the city is listed as 64 years, with the average house price sitting at £114,907.

The full top ten safest cities in the UK were:

1) Birmingham

2) Belfast

3) Derby

4) Plymouth

5) Manchester

6) Newcastle

7) Sunderland

8) Edinburgh

9) Bristol

10) Leeds

The bottom ten in descending order were London, Nottingham, Swansea, Portsmouth, York, Glasgow, Cardiff, Hull, Southampton and last of all Peterborough in 30th place.