HORSHAM district is one of the areas in the country least likely to be affected by poverty, new statistics have revealed.
It is ranked 307 out of 326 in the table produced by credit reference agency Experian and published in the Guardian newspaper this week.
Of its neighbours, only Mid Sussex is judged to be even less at risk from poverty, coming in at 309.
The parts of West Sussex expected to suffer most are Crawley (181) and Adur (184), while further down the list come Arun (227), Worthing (230) and Chichester (257).
The adjacent Surrey boroughs of Waverley (296) and Mole Valley (302) are considered slightly more at risk than Horsham.
The top end of the table is dominated by the north of England and headed by Middlesbrough and Hull, with the south’s worst areas Plymouth at 51, Southampton at 84, Hastings at 85 and Portsmouth at 87.
Least threatened by poverty are South Bucks, South Northamptonshire, Hart (Hampshire), Tandridge (Surrey) and the Isles of Scilly, at joint 322.