UK’s 10 unhealthiest high streets (and the best) revealed

If your high-street is flooded with betting shops and fast-food outlets, would it affect your life? According to the latest report by the Royal Society for Public Health (RSPH): Yes, it may.

The report, which analysed 70 major UK towns and cities, deducted points for high streets with more payday lenders, bookmakers, tanning salons and fast food outlets.

It, however, gave points for dentists, opticians, libraries, leisure centres, museums and galleries, pharmacies, coffee shops and, perhaps surprisingly pubs, bars and vape shops.

Shirley Cramer CBE, chief executive of the RSPH, added: “While the face of the British high street continues to change, the environmental and economic factors that influence inequalities in health outcomes across the country remain stubbornly intractable. Reshaping these high streets to be more health-promoting could serve as a tool to help redress this imbalance.”

Grimsby led the unhealthy High Street list ahead of Walsall and Blackpool, while Edinburgh, Canterbury and Taunton had the healthiest outlets.

The top 10 “unhealthiest” high streets:

1. Grimsby
2. Walsall
3. Blackpool
4. Stoke-On-Trent
5. Sunderland
6. Northampton
7. Bolton
8. Wolverhampton
9. Huddersfield
10. Bradford

The top 10 “healthiest” high streets:

1. Edinburgh
2. Canterbury
3. Taunton
4. Shrewsbury
5. Cheltenham
6. York
7. Brighton & Hove
8. Eastbourne
9. Exeter
10. Cambridge