Maldon residents are among the least happy in the country according to a new wellbeing survey.

A twice-yearly survey of wellbeing by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that happiness levels in the district have dropped, meaning it was rated as the unhappiest district in the county and in the top five least happy places in the UK.

The ONS asked about 165,000 people to rate their life satisfaction, happiness, whether they felt what they do in their lives was worthwhile, and their anxiety levels.

On a scale or 0 to ten, where 0 is “not at all” and ten is “completely”, residents in the district averaged 6.84 in the happiness section - nearly a whole point lower than last year when the Maldon district was within the top five happiest places in the UK, with an answer of 7.81.

This places the district at the bottom of the scale in Essex, with Harlow, Castlepoint, Brentwood and Basildon rated happier.

According to the report, the five happiest places in the UK are Antrim, Fermanagh, Omagh and Dungannon in Northern Ireland and Babergh in Suffolk.

Maldon is one of the least happy places in the UK alongside Barrow-in-Furness in Cumbria, Dartford in Kent, Torridge in Devon and South Ribble in Lancashire.