Manchester has been voted the best UK city to live in yet again in a worldwide survey.

The city outranked London being named the 51st best place in the world to live with Melbourne, Australia taking the overall title for the third year in a row.

The Global Liveability Survey was complied by the Economist Intelligence Unit and took into account factors including stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

But the gap between London and Manchester is narrowing.

While still claiming the title of the UK's best city Manchester has fallen nine places in the league table of 140 major cities since 2011 and is now just four positions higher than London, which is ranked as the 55th best place to live.

Andrew Stokes, chief executive of Marketing Manchester, said: “Manchester has given the world so much in terms of culture, science and sport.

" For those of us who live and work here, it comes as no surprise to hear we’re among the world’s most liveable cities.

"And given that a recent study calculated that over 200 languages are spoken across the city every day – it appears people from all over the world want to be in Manchester.

"We’ve got national museum collections and a packed calendar of theatre and cultural events – not to mention world class sports institutions like Manchester United and Manchester City. Combine this with carefully considered infrastructure and fantastic investment opportunities and you have the making of a very exciting place to live.”