PEOPLE in Nottingham are among the happiest in the country, according to research.

Dr Richard Tunney, of the University of Nottingham's school of psychology, wanted to find out if there is a link between how many friends people have and how happy they are.

Nottingham ranked joint third with Sheffield in the list, behind Birmingham, in first place, and Manchester.

The figures, produced for the National Lottery, found people are happier if they have a large number of close friends.

Dr Tunney said: "Having a number of old, close friendships is related to happiness.

"People who were 'extremely satisfied' with their lives had twice the number of friends of people who were 'extremely dissatisfied'."

At the bottom of the list were people from Brighton. Despite having an average of 42 friends, only 56% of them were found to be happy.