Bucks is one of the top three counties in England to bring up children. Who says so? A Deeside company called Witter Towbars.

To compile their list of the best and worst places to raise a child the analysts chose nine factors as an indicator of where the conditions are most favourable for the youngest generation to flourish.

Buckinghamshire came third in the 10 best list after Surrey and Cheshire.

Bristol, Northamptonshire and the Isle of Wight topped the list of the 10 worst.

A spokesman for the company said they instigated the study partly to find out how much influence location has on a child’s upbringing and to help parents and parents-to-be understand the challenges.

The report states: “Raising a child is the most important job anyone can have.”

“Childhood experiences ultimately shape the adult. It is possibly the only time in your life that you’re truly free.

“It’s a time to explore, to encourage imagination and connect with the world around you.

“Getting children to explore nature and be active is hugely important to their development.

“But what other factors are important? And how much influence does location have on a child’s upbringing?”

Here are the nine points chosen for the criteria, the source of the data on which the results are based and the Buckinghamshire figures:

1. Cost of a three bedroom house (data: Rightmove) Bucks: £408,548

2. Average annual disposable income after tax and other standard household bills (statistics from ONS) Bucks: £25,312

3. Number of child friendly activities (source: number for the area listed in TripAdvisor) Bucks: 196

4. Percentage of schools rated good or outstanding (source: Ofsted) Bucks: 96

5. Deprivation score (based on offiical government statistics to measure different kinds of deprivation, not just financial). Bucks: 9.8

6. Percentage of overweight/obese four and five year olds (source: figures from Public Health England to find areas most at risk). Bucks: 18.90 per cent

7. Average time children spend outdoors each week (based on previous survey results). Bucks: 5.1 hours

8. Average time children spend watching a screen (based on previous survey results). Bucks: 6.28 hours

9. Crime rates per 1000 people (source: Police data. Calculated by dividing the number of reported crimes per year across the population for the area). Bucks: 35

So why did Buckinghamshire make the top three in the Best Places To Raise A Child list?

Here’s how the study summarises the findings for Bucks:

“Much like Surrey, Buckinghamshire has a hefty price tag when it comes to purchasing a property.

“It also scored quite low when it came to the number of child friendly activities. It does of course have much to offer.

“With a whopping 96 per cent of schools rated good or outstanding Buckinghamshire came first for quality of education.

“Generally Buckinghamshire is a wealthy area, ranking third for the amount of disposable income.

“With 18.9 per cent of four and five year olds being classed as overweight or obese, it is the third lowest figure of all English counties.”