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Ashfield and Mansfield Rank Among Least Friendly Places in England
A new index based on the Government's Community Life Survey places Ashfield and Mansfield among the least friendly areas in England, prompting local officials to push back. Ashfield District Council and Mansfield's mayor defended their communities, citing strong community bonds and events.
By Tertius News AI Desk2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articlesVersion 1Coverage Published
Survey Ranks England's Local Authorities
A new study published by the National Conversation has ranked England's 296 local authorities based on eight criteria, including feelings of belonging, loneliness, local pride, and social cohesion. According to the Government's Community Life Survey, Barking and Dagenham in London is the least welcoming area in England, followed by Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire.
Nottinghamshire Districts in Bottom Ranks
Two districts in Nottinghamshire—Ashfield and Mansfield—featured prominently among the least friendly areas. Ashfield placed 294th out of 296, with only Barking and Dagenham and Stoke-on-Trent ranking lower. Mansfield followed closely, ranking as the fourth-least-friendly place in England.
The survey data indicates that residents in these areas tend to feel little pride in their local area and generally keep to themselves. Only 35.8% of those surveyed in Ashfield said they are proud to live there, compared to the national average of 59.7%. Additionally, just 64.5% of people in Ashfield believe that people from different backgrounds get on well, which is lower than England's average of 80.6%.
In Mansfield, only 40.6% of people feel proud to live there, while 66.2% believe that people from different backgrounds get on well.
Local Officials Respond
Ashfield District Council responded to the ranking by highlighting the many community events held annually to bring residents together, foster local pride, and strengthen community bonds, including the Ashfield Show and the Food and Drink Festival. A council spokesperson said: "Ashfield is home to many thriving communities, dedicated volunteers and successful community initiatives, so this ranking does not reflect the experience of many of our residents."
Mansfield's Mayor Andy Abrahams also rejected the findings. He said: "I disagree that Mansfield is one of the least friendly places in the UK, as it is full of hard-working, kind and honest people." He further described the town as having a "fantastic sense of humour."
Other Findings
Rushcliffe, also in Nottinghamshire, ranked as the most friendly place in the county, placing 46th overall in the index.
How each outlet told it
A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.
Framing: The headline emphasizes a list of the least friendly places in England, using the superlative 'least friendly' and promising a full list. — The tone is factual and descriptive, reporting survey results and including a counter-response from a local council.
Facts Included:
Barking and Dagenham, in London, is the least welcoming area in England.
Stoke-on-Trent, in Staffordshire, was second.
Ashfield and Mansfield were placed among the least welcoming.
Ashfield District Council points out that numerous community events are held annually to bring residents together.
A spokesperson said: "Ashfield is home to many thriving communities, dedicated volunteers and successful community initiatives, so this ranking does not reflect the experience of many of our residents."
Mansfield ranks as the fourth-least-friendly location in England.
The index ranked England's 296 local authorities across eight separate criteria.
AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the distinct outlets we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimBarking and Dagenham, in London, is the least welcoming area in England, according to the Government's Community Life Survey.
ClaimThe friendliness index ranked England's 296 local authorities across eight criteria, including feelings of belonging, loneliness, local prideaint and social cohesion.
ClaimAshfield District Council says there are many community events that bring residents together, such as the Ashfield Show and the Food and Drink Festival.
ClaimA spokesperson for Ashfield District Council said: "Ashfield is home to many thriving communities, dedicated volunteers and community initiatives, so this ranking does not reflect the experience of many of our residents."
ClaimMansfield's Mayor Andy Abrahams rejected the National Conversation Index's findings, saying the town is full of "hard-working, honest people with a fantastic sense of humour."
ClaimMansfield Mayor Andy Abrahams said: "I disagree that Mansfield is one of the least friendly places in the UK, as it is full of hard-working, kind and honest people."
ClaimMansfield's Mayor Andy Abrahams rejects the National Conversation's findings, describing the town as "full of hard-working, kind and honest people".