A NATIONAL survey has placed Darlington Borough Council at the top of a league table for the services it provides.

Outshining all other councils in England, Darlington notched up the highest scores in the study, which is based on Audit Commission data.

The research assessed services provided by councils across the country, including housing, environment, transport and planning.

Each service provided by county, borough, unitary and metropolitan borough councils was given a score from one to four and a national newspaper, which carried out the study, combined the results to produce a final ranking.

Darlington was top of the table with the east London borough of Hackney coming last.

A council spokesman said the survey was a positive indicator for the people of Darlington. He said: "It shows that we are doing really well."