ADULTS in Worcester are more active than the average person in the West Midlands. 

The results from Sports England found that 63 per cent of people over the age of 16 were active for more than two and a half hours per week, three per cent more than the average for the West Midlands. 

However, Worcester's figures are down from 65 per cent last year. 

Dan Brothwell, chair of Bike Worcester said: "This is good news however it could be better. 

"There is an easy way to be more active and that is to normalise exercising into your regular routine. 

"Cycling and walking are some of the best ways to have some daily exercise."

The survey is called Active Lives and showed that over two million more people across the country were exercising regularly when compared with 2016.

Almost 30 million people in the UK met the chief medical officer's guidelines of doing 150 or more minutes of intense physical activity per week.

The Institute for Public Policy Research has pointed at a growing divide in activity based on where someone lives.

Stephen Frost, principal research fellow at the think tank, said: “Last year, a third of people in the most deprived neighbourhoods are considered inactive compared to a fifth of those in the least deprived.

“The number of people considered active in the most deprived areas has dropped by 2.5 per cent in the last seven years.

“Across the regions we are seeing some signs of growth in physical activity but generally only in the places that were already doing well – while the West Midlands and the North East have seen barely any change in the numbers of active people in the last seven years.

“If anything speaks to the failure of levelling up it is the inability to address these inequalities in access to healthy places between the UK’s communities.”

The level of inactivity in Worcester has unfortunately gone up to 26 per cent from 23 per cent in 2016. 

Liz Green, chair of the Local Government Association’s Culture, Tourism and Sport Board, said: "Physical inactivity has a detrimental impact on personal health, and the wider economy.

“We need to tackle the inequalities within our communities which affect access to adults based on their location, wealth, age, ethnicity and gender."

Tim Hollingsworth, CEO of Sport England said: "At the moment, how likely you are to be active depends too much on your bank balance and your postcode.

“That’s why we will continue to target our investment in places where it can make the biggest difference and on the groups who have most to gain.”