THE south west has been tipped by a pensioner wellbeing index as the place to go to enjoy a long, healthy and safe retirement, Wiltshire coming 12th in a table of the top 20 counties.

Devon topped the league table compiled by Prudential, which used census data and results from the insurer's own retirement research to rank the top 20 counties in England and Wales.

The league table looked at factors such as crime rates, healthcare and life expectancy.

Dorset was ranked second, Gloucestershire seventh, with Wiltshire at number 12, Somerset at 13 and Cornwall at 19.

Prudential found that among people retiring in 2015, more than one third (36%) of those in the south west expect to be able to afford to leave an inheritance to their families. This was well above the UK average of 29%.

It said that the largely rural make-up of Devon results in a relatively low crime rate, while the county's pensioner life expectancy is in the national top 10 for both men and women.

The average Devonian man can expect to live for another 19 years, while a woman of the same age can expect to live for another 22 years.

Devon was also found to have an above-average number of healthcare workers per 1,000 people, at 65.6 compared with a national average of 60.9.

Meanwhile, the pensioners of Dorset have the longest life expectancies across England and Wales, according to the research.

The average 65-year-old woman there can expect to live for another 23 years and the average 65-year-old man can expect to live for another 20 years.

Previous analysis by Prudential found that Christchurch in Dorset is the UK's "retirement capital", with more pensioners per head of the population than anywhere else in the country.

Three areas in Wales also made the top 20 list - Powys, Conwy and Monmouthshire. Meanwhile, North Yorkshire, with its vast, dramatic landscapes, was the only place in northern England to make the list, at number 10.

Vince Smith Hughes, retirement income expert at Prudential, said that the recently-introduced pension freedoms may encourage more people to relocate to somewhere that better suits their needs when they retire.

The freedoms give people aged 55 and over with a defined contribution (DC) pension more flexibility to access their money how they wish, subject to tax.

Mr Smith Hughes said: "For people hoping to have the most comfortable lifestyle in retirement the best approach remains to save as much as possible as early as possible during your working life - but while being financially secure in retirement shouldn't be overlooked, issues such as safety, security and health play an important part in a pensioner's overall quality of life."

He said that people looking to take up the new retirement freedoms should make the most of the Government's free Pension Wise guidance service.

  • Here are the top 20 areas across England and Wales in the pensioner wellbeing table compiled by Prudential:

1. Devon

2. Dorset

=3. Powys

=3. Norfolk

5. East Sussex

6. Surrey

7. Gloucestershire

8. West Sussex

9. Suffolk

10. North Yorkshire

11. Cambridgeshire

12. Wiltshire

13. Somerset

14. Hampshire

15. Herefordshire

16. Conwy

17. Buckinghamshire

18. Oxfordshire

19. Cornwall

20. Monmouthshire