PETERSFIELD has been named as one of the top places to live in the country.

The town was one of only 106 locations selected by The Sunday Times newspaper from across the UK to be included in its Best Places to Live 2018 guide.

Petersfield was placed in 11th position in a list of 15 locations selected in south east England for the feature – the list released today represents the sixth year the Best Places To Live guide has been generated by the national Sunday newspaper.

Guildford came in fourth on the south east England list and Midhurst was eighth. The only other Hampshire places to feature were Lymington and Stockbridge.

The special supplement about the list included in today’s edition of the newspaper listed the reasons why Petersfield was included as a best place to live in this year.

Included in the newspaper’s description of the best bits about the town were the twice weekly market, the shops in Lavant Street including One Tree Books, having a Waitrose store in Rams Walk, The Physic Garden in High Street and the events and cinema put on in The Festival Hall.

The “star attraction” of the town was described as Petersfield Heath – a “69 acre green lung a short stroll from the centre.”

The Sunday Times gave the reason why they loved the town in their survey as “eat your fill and then walk it off on the Downs.”

Playwright, journalist and Petersfield resident Jennifer Selway, who moved to the town from London a decade ago, told The Sunday Times: “Petersfield feels like it has a heart.”

When commenting on Petersfield’s historical past as a coaching stop between London and Portsmouth, and that both places are still within easy reach of the East Hampshire market town, the newspaper listed the cost of an annual train season ticket to London as £4,460.

The Sunday Times’ supplement said: “It might seem like highway robbery, but at least you should be sure of a seat.”

The feature also included data on house price figures in the town. The average sale price of a flat in Petersfield between March 2017 and March this year was £169,670.

For the same period the average price for a semi detached house was £421,720 and for a detached family home it was £657,430.