Merton has been named one of the 12 best places in the United Kingdom for people to retire in, according to analysis by an authoritative consumer group.

Which? asked more than 1,000 of its members what the main factors were that determined where they would like to retire to. Access to healthcare was the most important factor, followed by green spaces, closeness to leisure activities and low crime levels.

Using these responses, Which? applied these findings to local authorities across nine regions of England, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. They then identified from data which local authorities scored highest in these categories.

In addition to being in the top 12 for the country, Merton was also identified as the best place in London to retire to. We scored highly for both healthcare (9.4/10) and our abundance of green spaces (9.6/10), and for the average distance to GP services, and pharmacies being only 600m.

Proximity to sports and leisure facilities in the borough was just 500m, while low rates of personal/violent crime also saw Merton score highly.

Councillor Ross Garrod, Leader of the Council, said: “It’s great news that Merton has been recognised as one of the best places in the UK for people to retire.

“From our much loved parks and world renowned sporting heritage, to keeping the borough as one of the safest places in the capital – we’ve always known that Merton is London’s best kept secret.

“And we are making our Borough more accessible for older people too – whether its through our new homecare contract helping people to stay at home for longer, or our ambition to become London’s Borough of Sport and getting people active no matter their age.”