The best place to enjoy a night out in the UK is a popular seaside resort and the worst one is a well-known town just miles from London, according to a new survey.
Research by Public First looked at the size of the night-time economy across more than 100 major towns and cities in England and Wales.
It found that when it comes to regional variations, there is more than a simplistic North-South divide or even a rich-poor divide.
Towns around London, such as Bracknell and High Wycombe, scored relatively poorly on the Night Out Index, while places in the North such as Wakefield and Halifax scored well.
And Birmingham, the UK's second city by population, also came out poorly in the Index, with both the city itself and several towns surrounding it having relatively low scores.
Overall, Brighton on the South Coast was named the best place to spend a night out, based on the number of restaurants, pubs, bars and clubs available, and what they have to offer.
It was followed by the picturesque city of Bath, which came in second place, and then York in third place.
On the other side of the scale was Slough in Berkshire, which has just 4.4 nightclubs, bars and eateries per 10,000 people and was named the worst place for a night out, according to the report.
Basildon in Essex and Bracknell in Berkshire took the second and third spot, respectively.
The Night Out Index focused on licensed establishments to measure the strength of nightlife and did not consider unlicensed evening establishments, Public First said.
For example, it did not take into consideration the growth in late-night dessert parlours or the more than 500% increase in the number of shisha bars in the UK since the mid-2000s.
Research from 2018 suggested Manchester has 60 registered shisha cafes, while Birmingham has seen the number of such establishments increase from just three in 2007 to over 30.
Overall, northern towns have seen some of the biggest improvements in nightlife, with Leeds, Liverpool and Halifax leading the way with a roughly 20% increase in the per capita number of night-time establishments.
Meanwhile, Rochdale, Mansfield and Dudley have seen the biggest declines in the Night Out Index over this time period.
Just under half (46%) of major towns and cities in England and Wales have seen an improvement in nightlife over the past decade, as measured by the Night Out Index, while the remainder (54%) have seen a deterioration.
Scott Corfe, director of the data and modelling team at Public First, said: "Our Night Out Index reveals big differences in the health of the night-time economy in different parts of the country, as well as some major changes in the make-up of the night-time economy with the shift towards restaurants.
"It's encouraging to see the nighttime economy contributing to ‘levelling up’ in the North of England, particularly with the greatly improved nightlife scenes in Leeds, Liverpool and Halifax over the past decade.
"However, with the Night Out Index declining in over half of towns and cities over the past decade, much needs to be done to strengthen the night-time economy elsewhere."
Mike Crowhurst, director at Public First and head of its Levelling Up practice, said: "Our Night Out Index is a reminder that ‘levelling up’ is about the quality of life people enjoy, as well as how they work, travel and learn.
"Local leadership and investment in arts, culture and hospitality have helped make some of our Northern towns and cities much more attractive places to live, but others have fallen behind.
"As the night-time economy evolves, action is needed to arrest the growing divides between our towns and cities and ensure people across the country have access to a great night out."
10 best places for a night out
1. Brighton and Hove
2. Bath
3. York
4. Chester
5. Shrewsbury
6. Cambridge
7. Harrogate
8. Newcastle
9. Cheltenham
10. Manchester
10 worst places for a night out
1. Slough
2. Basildon
3. Bracknell
4. Salford
5. Chatham
6. Harlow
7. Luton
8. Bradford
9. Redditch
10. Gillingham
