Life in the lovely village a short drive from Greater Manchester that is the safest place in Britain

A village less than an hour away from Greater Manchester has been named the safest place to live in the UK. This was after just 18 crimes were recorded in a while year in the area.

Congleton, which is around 40 minutes down the A34 from Manchester, is described by residents as a 'lovely area' with people settling in for years once they've moved there.

While only 18 crimes were committed, according to CheshireLive, those that they spoke to found the story of quite an incident at a village post office back in 2019. Jane Bostock who bought the 19th century Post Office on Biddulph Road in 2016, said: "In 2019 an armed robber attacked me in front of my colleagues. He had a hammer and he grabbed my hair and put me in a headlock. I managed to fight him off luckily, we were all terrified but I’m thankful to my team who’ve stuck with me through thick-and-thin. Other than that though, I can’t recall having any other problems.”

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Jane added: “During the lockdown the queue was down the street because people couldn’t come inside and we’re such a busy shop. We do our best to support local businesses - as [almost] all of us in the town are independent - so we sell locally grown potatoes, eggs, and other things such as my niece’s [Evie Bostock] postcards as she’s an artist.

“It’s such a nice place, everyone knows one another and helps each other out if anyone has any issues. We love the community spirit and we want everyone to join in and get involved.”

Chappell Centre is a hotspot for retirees who all told CheshireLive how safe they feel in their village. Jean Hampson moved to Mossley only six months ago from her home in Leigh.

The 90-year-old said: