The Worst Place To Live in UK is ....

London's district of Hackney has been slammed as the worst place to live in the UK, according to a poll. It came bottom of the heap out of all the UK's 434 local authorities based on five criteria - crime, environment, lifestyle, education and employment. But there is good news for Hull as last year's worst place to live is not to be seen at all in the 2006 bottom 10.

Also disappearing off the list since last year are Mansfield and Salford.

But the repeat offenders are listed as the City of Nottingham, Strabane, Hackney, Middlesbrough, Blaenau Gwent and Merthyr Tydfil.

Hackney has its defenders though, with its mayor Jules Pipe, saying: "Of course Hackney has problems, as do all inner city boroughs, but it is an amazing place to live.

"It is diverse and exciting with fantastic architecture, a vibrant arts and cultural scene, and a bright future as an Olympic borough."

The research was carried out for Channel 4's The Best and Worst Places to Live in the UK: 2006.

Here are the results for the worst places to live:

1. Hackney, east London
2. Tower Hamlets, east London
3. Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales
4. Newham, east London
5. Islington, north London
6. Middlesbrough, North East
7. City of Nottingham, East Midlands
8. Strabane, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland
9. Blaenau Gwent, south Wales
10. Manchester, North West