A PROFILE of urban life in Britain yesterday revealed that the secret to good health, a handsome bank balance and a lasting marriage lies in our postcodes.

Four reports published by the Office for National Statistics, which used information gathered by the 2001 census, revealed the social, religious and demographic habits of the British population.

It is the first time census information has been broken down according to town and cities. The area which enjoys the greatest degree of married bliss is North Yorkshire, where 72 per cent of people aged 16 and over are married - in the village of Pannal, south of Harrogate.

The report found some 72 per cent of West Hill residents in Devon were married or remarried, the second highest in the country.

It is a different story in Higher Folds housing estate near Wigan, Lancashire, however, where nearly one in six adults are divorced.

The urban area with the highest proportion of singletons (93.1 per cent) is Lancaster University, while Aberystwyth has 58.4 per cent of residents over the age of 16 who were are single. The South-east remains the preferred retirement destination, with Milford-on-Sea near Lymington as home to the highest proportion of residents aged 65 and over in England and Wales.

The North is home to the greatest number of ailing people. In Wheatley Hill and Easington, in County Durham, and Brierley, in South Yorkshire, at least one person in three had a limiting long-term illness and around one in five described their health as "not good".

But the sickliest village is Croeserw, South Wales, where more than two in five, (41.3 per cent) have a limiting long-term condition, the highest proportion in England and Wales.

Brian Gibbons, assembly member for Aberavon and deputy minister for economic development and transport, said that poor health was a legacy of the Valleys' industrial past, current deprivation and remoteness from services.

Frizington, near Whitehaven, Cumbria, has the highest unemployment rate among urban areas in the country, with almost one in six of those able to work being unemployed. Higher Folds, Brierley and Kirkby in Merseyside also have unemployment rates of one in eight or more.

Residents of Hughenden Valley in Buckinghamshire, have the most vehicles per house, with two cars or vans for every home, while more than 50 per cent of people go without a car if they live in in Higher Folds.

As far as religious groupings are concerned, the urban area of Radlett, near Watford, was found to have the highest Jewish population per capita.

Blackburn with Darwen in Lancashire has the greatest number of Muslims at 19.5 per cent, followed by Burnley. Cleator Moor in Cumbria has the highest proportion (89.9 per cent) of Christians.

Cardiff is growing fastest. In the 10 years to 2001, the population of the city has increased by 19,296 to 327,706.