BASILDON has officially been named as the second-best commuter town in the whole of the UK, thanks to its train lines to London and house prices.

Following a study by the Telegraph and estate agents Savills, Basildon emerged inside the top ten across the country, alongside Laindon, Tilbury, Grays and Chafford Hundred.

The leaderboard was put together following analysis of a number of factors, including house prices, commute times by rail, great schools, and quality of life - with Basildon scoring highly in each area.

Stephen Metcalfe, MP for South Basildon and East Thurrock, said he can see why Basildon was so high up in the findings.

He said: “When I saw it, it was a combination of being surprised and not surprised.

“Surprised it has been recognised, but not surprised as it is something I had personally known is a good asset about Basildon ever since I was elected.

“We have a fantastic sense of community along with great access and infrastructure to road and rail, so you can see it is a great place to live.

“I was pleased to see it got the recognition along with the other five names out of the ten places in south Essex.

“It is amazing.

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“Of course, there is always room for improvements, improvements can always be made.

“I have talked about a tram through south Essex, linking to north Kent, as it would be another benefit of commuting in Basildon, I think more work could be done on the A127.

“But it is important to remember when we experienced the strikes last week, you could really see the impact on people living here, and the commuting community we have.”

According to the study, commuters can get to the city within around 36 minutes from three stations in the Basildon borough.

Andrew Baggott, leader of Basildon Council, said it shows that Basildon is better than it is made out to be.

He said: “It is fantastic news, it sort of puts lie to the people that are the chicken littles that always want to do look down on Basildon.

“Basildon is live and kicking and it just goes to show the doom and gloom is not really as it is cracked up to be.”