Council to investigate after Horsham ranked the ‘most anxious’ place in UK

Sue Rogers (Con, Steyning), cabinet member for a Safer and Healthier District, said she was concerned to learn of news from the Office for National Statistics.

She wants to delve deeper into the survey, speak to local GPs about the potential health issues and hold online surgeries with Horsham district locals.

“It’s a concern if people are worried,” she told the County Times.

“I would like to understand what people are worried about and I would like to dig deeper into the survey and know what questions were asked.”

Adults across the country were asked to rate on a scale of zero to ten their life satisfaction, happiness, how worthwhile they felt, and their anxiety levels.

Despite being consistently ranked as one of the best places to live, respondents in the Horsham district rated their anxiety level 4.11 on average, the highest in the country.

It topped Eden in Cumbria, Belfast, South Derbyshire, and Islington in North London.

Mrs Rogers said she will be meeting with local GPs to discuss the health issues.

She continued: “People can worry themselves into all sorts of medical conditions.

“I think there are a lot of worries in this country just because of the times we’re living in through world events and our own home events.

“One of the things I would like to do is run a Facebook chat and engage people in what these concerns are.”

She added: “We can’t ignore this.”

The average anxious rating across West Sussex was 3.29.

The survey is conducted by a split of telephone and face-to-face interviews with 155,000 households and 360,000 people.

Whilst concerns have been raised about the underlying health issues relating to anxiety, others have reacted to the news with light-hearted comments that poke fun at Horsham’s affluent character.

A County Times reader commented on this website: “I’m not surprised the residents are anxious... Waitrose had run out of hummous the other day, and the assistant couldn’t tell me when they’d be getting more stock!”

Another, under the user name of ‘fleabanetheplant’, said: “Too much free time, cheap entertainment, food and disposable income.

“A good dose of real poverty would do these whingers some good. Get out of your bubble and see how some have to live in this world. Just to survive is a struggle for hundreds of millions of people. Get a life you miserable excuses for useless human beings.”

What do you think of the results? Comment below or email the County Times.