WARRINGTON has been announced as the number one location for employment in the UK following a report exposing the economic imbalances across 64 major cities.

The Centre for Cities' annual Cities Outlook report, now in its eighth year, classifies Warrington as a city due to its population count.

The town's impressive prospects are demonstrated by 79.8 per cent of its population in work, with a a six per cent growth in jobs despite the recession.

It also stands fifth for top GCSE results in the country and thirteenth for high level qualifications, though it did not make the top ten table for having maximum broadband.

However, the Connecting Cheshire high speed broadband programme currently being rolled out is set to change this in future years - ensuring Warrington will have 96 per cent access to high-speed fibre optic broadband by the end of 2015.

“Today’s report shows that Warrington continues to lead the North West region and indeed the rest of the UK, most notably this time in terms of employment," said Terry O'Neill, leader of Warrington Borough Council.

"Ensuring the people of Warrington are able to get jobs is a key objective of this local authority.

"We are pleased that once again Warrington continues to set the pace for the north west region and in certain areas outperforms most of the UK”.

The report states that the strongest performance among cities in the north west is seen among its smaller cities, with economic growth thriving in many of them.