WORCESTER has been named in the top 50 best urban places to live by The Sunday Times.

It was selected for combining the best of city life - quality culture, great cafes, restaurants and shops, buzzing nightlife and entertainment – with access to good schools and transport links.

The accolade comes in part two of The Sunday Times best places to live guide, which will be published on Sunday (March 8).

Helen Davies, home editor, said: "Much of our population lives in cities but they are often maligned as loud, polluted and unwelcoming, so the second part of the best places to live 2015 celebrates the thriving and bustling areas that offer the best things about urban living.

“That could be as a hub of culture, a hotbed of entrepreneurial spirit, a reputation for culinary excellence, a shopping heaven, great schools or all of the above and more."

The annual supplements combine data including crime rates, house prices and school performance with the local knowledge and expertise of Sunday Times writers to compile the definitive top 50 city locations to make your home.

Four other Midlands locations – Harborne, the Jewellery Quarter and Moseley in Birmingham, and Nottingham – also made the list.

An overall urban winner and three runners-up will be revealed in the paper on Sunday (March 8) but the rest of the list is not ranked.

The Sunday Times best urban places to live is the second in a four-part series in partnership with Zoopla. Part one focused on the countryside, while part three looks at the “best of both” suburban places and part four reveals the best places to live overseas.