LOCAL experts have rubbished the results of a national survey that claims South Lakeland is one of the worst places in the country to bring up children.

South Lakeland limped in at 246th out of 408 local authorities after parents from all over the country were quizzed by Reader's Digest to find Britain's best place to raise a child.

Chief executive of South Lakeland District Council Mike Jones dismissed the findings and questioned the quality of the data collection.

"Whoever has commented on the place does not know enough about it because South Lakeland is a fantastic place to work and live and I could not think of many better places. I live in Lancaster (ranked in 200th place) and I can't believe that it has scored higher than South Lakeland," he said.

Chairman of the South Lakes Federation of Schools, Stephen Wilkinson, said he could not disagree more with the findings.

"All of the evidence that I have come across suggests that we are very fortunate with the quality of education provided by the state educational providers, both primary and secondary. I have to say, as a parent of school and university-aged students, I could not have been personally more delighted with the quality of education my children have received," he said.

Work co-ordinator at the South Lakeland Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnership Jenny Draper said she was also surprised with the findings of the survey.

"We are the safest area in Cumbria and the second safest in the North West so the findings of the survey buck the trend and I find it quite bizarre.

"We have 54.2 offences per 1,000 people in all crime types," she said.

Parents quizzed told Reader's Digest that good state schools, a low crime rate, good local hospitals, affordable family housing, employment, the amount of other families nearby and local colleges and universities were all important factors.

Data was taken from Home Office crime figures, land registry house price figures and unemployment rates from the Office of National Statistics.

A Reader's Digest spokeswoman said that parents valued the network of concerned neighbours, teachers and community groups that made for safe and thriving towns.

Top area to bring up a child was East Dumbartonshire, Scotland, and bottom was Reading in Berkshire.