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BOUNCED BACK

Salisbury named best place to live in UK a year after Novichok attack

The Wiltshire city was deemed 'special' as it has bounced back following the horrific chemical attack

SALISBURY has been named as the best place to live in the UK - a year after the Novichock poisoning attack.

Judges said the Wiltshire city showed a "real collective spirit" after the incident which dominated global headlines.

Salisbury took the title in The Sunday Times 2019 list
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Salisbury took the title in The Sunday Times 2019 listCredit: Getty - Contributor
Salisbury's award comes a year after Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by a nerve agent
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Salisbury's award comes a year after Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were poisoned by a nerve agentCredit: Enterprise News and Pictures
Members of the emergency services in green biohazard encapsulated suits investigate the bench where they were found in Salisbury
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Members of the emergency services in green biohazard encapsulated suits investigate the bench where they were found in SalisburyCredit: AFP or licensors

And it has managed to "bounce back" even as the clean up continues.

Helen Davies, The Sunday Times Home editor, said: "Salisbury has shown real collective spirit in dealing with a chemical attack that saw the cathedral city become the centre of world headlines for all the wrong reasons.

"There are still parts of the city where the clean-up continues, but to bounce back and be even stronger is a sure sign of a very special community, which is one of the reasons we have chosen Salisbury as the best place to live in Britain in 2019.

DIVINELY ATTRACTIVE

"It remains a divinely attractive and welcoming place. It's handy for coast, countryside and London, has some of the best schools in the southwest, a great market and it's very strong culturally, too."

The Isle of Dogs in the borough of Tower Hamlets was named the best place to live in Greater London, Dundee the top place to live in Scotland, Crickhowell in Powys was judged the cream of the crop in Wales, while Holywood in County Down came out in front for Northern Ireland.

Where are the best places to live in the UK?

Overall winner: Salisbury, Southwest

Greater London: Isle of Dogs, Tower Hamlets

Midlands: Edale, Derbyshire

North and North East: York, North Yorkshire

North West: Kirkby Lonsdale, Cumbria

Northern Ireland: Holywood, Co Down

Scotland: Dundee

South East: Petworth, West Sussex

South West: Topsham, Devon

The East: Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk

Wales: Crickhowell, Powys

The judging panel used their own expert knowledge alongside statistics, including house prices, provided by Habito and TwentyCi.

Previous winners of the top title in The Sunday Times Best Places to Live include York last year, Bristol in 2017 and Hampshire in 2016.

Last March, ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia were found seriously ill on a bench, poisoned with a nerve agent.

Russia's GRU intelligence agency have been accused of launching the attack, although the country has denied involvement.

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The Skripal's survived, but the Dawn Sturgess died, after she came into contact with a perfume bottle, believed to have been used to poison the Skripal's.

The list, collated by , includes Ireland's Belfast, London's Isle of Dogs and Scotland's Dundee.

Timeline of movements of Russian nationals Alexander Petrov and Ruslan Boshirov who are suspected of conspiracy to murder Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, Wiltshire
The Isle of Dogs in the borough of Tower Hamlets was named the best place to live in Greater London
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The Isle of Dogs in the borough of Tower Hamlets was named the best place to live in Greater LondonCredit: Getty Images - Getty
Northern Ireland's Holywood, was featured for its beautiful scenery
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Northern Ireland's Holywood, was featured for its beautiful scenery
Judges said Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk has a friendly atmosphere and colourful history
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Judges said Bury St. Edmunds in Suffolk has a friendly atmosphere and colourful historyCredit: Universal Images Group - Getty
Devon's Topsham, has become an attractive and high-value residential location
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Devon's Topsham, has become an attractive and high-value residential locationCredit: Alamy
The new V&A structure in Dundee, Scotland, put the city on the map as a creative bubble
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The new V&A structure in Dundee, Scotland, put the city on the map as a creative bubbleCredit: Alamy
Last year's winner York made a come-back in the prestigious list, for its rich history
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Last year's winner York made a come-back in the prestigious list, for its rich historyCredit: Getty - Contributor

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