Bournemouth adults are the most active in the South West according to a new nationwide report.

Bournemouth are the most active county in the South West © A OSLO

The report produced by UK Active, has assessed the levels and impact of inactivity throughout 150 different counties.

The report then ranked the counties in order of the smallest percentage of inactivity.

Bournemouth has some of the lowest levels being ranked 5th in the country and first in the South West.

Nicola Greene, Deputy council leader and co-chair of the board of Health and Well-being board in Bournemouth and Poole said: “We’re obviously very pleased but also not entirely surprised. You look around and think about all the great local facilities that we’ve got across Bournemouth that people can access.”

Despite councils not being required to provide health facilities, Bournemouth Council has gone the extra mile opening green areas such as Winton Recreation Ground and a new Coastal Activity park in Boscombe.

Nicola added: “It’s about providing the facilities in the first place and making sure they are accessible and affordable. We are a visitor economy which gives us the chance to invest in out parks and gardens in ways that perhaps other towns can’t.”

Four years ago Bournemouth Borough Council decided to hand over control of their four leisure centers to BH Live to ensure residents get the best facilities.

Stokewood Leisure Centre is one of the facilities run by BH Live who promote fitness and activity through their range of facilities.

Sarah Ashby, senior fitness advisor at Stokewood, said: “I think it’s great and we have noticed such an increase in memberships. We try to enable all walks of life to be able to come in and exercise.”

UK Active is a non-profit body that encourages people to become active.

This report is their latest project highlighting the inactiveness of the country.

Nationally Wokingham had the lowest levels of inactivity whereas Manchester had the highest levels of inactivity.