The Isles of Scilly have been named as the friendliest place in England in a major study examining social division across Britain.

All 296 local authority areas have been ranked by The National Conversation, a UK-wide initiative run by the Independent Commission on Community and Cohesion, using government data from the Community Life Survey.

The survey included metrics such as how often people chat to neighbours, feelings of loneliness and belonging, local pride, and levels of participation in civic life. 

The Isles of Scilly, a group of islands about 28 miles southwest of Cornwall, which has a population of 2,300 people, ranked nearly perfect, scoring 99 out of 100.

According to the survey, 86.5 per cent of residents were proud to live in Scilly, and only 3 per cent of Scilly residents felt lonely often or always.

Almost 90 per cent said they chatted to their neighbours at least monthly.

It was followed by South Hams in south Devon, West Devon, the Derbyshire Dales and Richmond upon Thames. 

The study named Barking and Dagenham as the least friendly area in England, where 10.1 per cent of residents said they often felt lonely.

The Isle of Scilly, a group of islands about 28 miles southwest of Cornwall which has a population of 2,300 people, ranked nearly perfect – scoring 99 out of 100. Pictured: An early morning aerial shot of the Cornish coastline

The study named Barking and Dagenham as the least friendly area in England, where 10.1 per cent of residents said they often felt lonely. Pictured: Aerial photo of Dagenham town centre

Only 42.8 per cent said they felt proud to live in their local area, compared with the average of 59.7 per cent nationally.

The remaining areas in the bottom five were Stoke-on-Trent, Ashfield, Mansfield and Ipswich. 

The National Conversation, co-chaired by the former Conservative home secretary Sajid Javid and the former Labour policy coordinator Jon Cruddas, aims to help better understand the country’s state of connection and cohesion to create a vision for how we can live well together.   

The foreword from its first report published last year claimed that ‘communal life in Britain is under threat’ due to declining infrastructure and institutions, a loss in trust in those institutions, growing inequality and chronic neglect from policymakers.   

It also identified current threats causing growing social disconnection, including the mismanagement of immigration, cost of living pressures and social media-driven extremism.

The commission warned the results show that the UK was ‘sitting on a tinderbox of disconnection and division’.    

Mr Cruddas, who was the former MP for Dagenham, said: ‘I nearly choked on my cornflakes when my old area came rock bottom. 

‘I think government stats miss a lot of what really makes an area tick, including my old town. 

‘But that’s why we have developed it, to spark a conversation – because what we really want is your view on your area.’