A new online tool has revealed Southend to be the fifth-hardest working place in the UK.

The tool uses a variety of factors, including average hours worked, unemployment rate and commute time, to determine the hardest working towns and cities in the UK. 

In Southend, the statistics show: 

  • Average hours worked per week, 51.3 
  • Unemployment rate, 3.4 % 
  • Commute time, 35 minutes
  • Business Start Ups per 10,000 population, 51
  • Total Jobs per 10,000 population, 9,937

The figures mean the town is fifth, behind Birmingham, Bristol, Milton Keynes and Reading.

Basildon is listed at number 20. 

The tool was created by windows furnishing company www.thomas-sanderson.co.uk and usea a combination of factors such as average hours worked, number of start-ups, total jobs and unemployment rates to create the tool.

The top ten 'hardest-working' towns and cities in the UK:

1.            Birmingham

2.            Bristol

3.            Milton Keynes

4.            Reading

5.            Southend

6.            Oxford

7.            Cambridge

8.            London

9.            Brighton

10.        Portsmouth

Conversely, the cities found at the other end of the scale were Hull, Burnley, Sunderland, Blackburn and Swansea.

Commenting on the tool, Richard Petrie, Marketing Director at www.thomas-sanderson.co.uk, said: “Britain is certainly a nation that knows how to work hard, so it was interesting to look at different factors associated with this to see how working varied across the nation.

"We spend so much of our lives at work, so it’s important to give yourself enough time to wind-down and relax when you are not there.”