Edinburgh is the place to be - and that's official!

Edinburgh has been named the most attractive city in the UK to live and work in, The city came ahead of London, although the UK capital scored higher on earnings, employment and business activity.

The study, commissioned by Royal Mail, assessed 12 cities on nine categories including access to education, green space and healthcare, cultural services and housing costs.

Edinburgh came first on access to education and performed well on job opportunities, business community, earnings and access to green space, which covers 28% of the city.

Earnings in Edinburgh (at £578 on average per week) are second only to London and the city also has the second highest number of start-ups, while office space costs are about half that of London and the employment rate is strong at 70.8%.

Edinburgh Council Leader Adam McVey said: "It is welcome news that Edinburgh is yet again receiving recognition as the UK's top city to live and work in.

"The facts demonstrating the city's attributes are plentiful and our own statistics show that Edinburgh is a vibrant capital city with a diverse economy, an increasing population with strong investment potential."

People in London, which is in second place, have the highest earnings at £697 per week on average.

However, housing affordability and office costs are the highest in the UK.

Bristol, in third place, has an employment rate of 77.3% and is the top-ranking UK city for job opportunities while Newcastle-Gateshead was fourth and Manchester fifth overall.

Glasgow was in sixth place.

Known as the 'dear green place' it lives up to its reputation, taking first place for the share of the city which is green space, at 35%.

It ranks third for rich cultural services as the city has 7.1 theatres and 60.2 libraries per million people.

Leeds was in seventh place followed by Cardiff, Sheffield, Liverpool, Belfast and Birmingham.

Royal Mail spokesman David Gold said: "This new research from Royal Mail shows there is hot competition among the UK's leading cities to be the most attractive location for people to live and work in.

"Edinburgh has the edge on other economically significant UK cities.

"Bristol also performs well in categories including job opportunities, healthcare, business community and culture."

Royal Mail worked with Cebr to investigate the UK's most attractive cities to live and work in.

The research considered the UK's ten most economically significant cities as well as the capital cities of Wales and Northern Ireland