Residents across the district are leading the way when it comes to getting active, figures have revealed.

According to a Sport England survey, the Braintree District has seen the largest increase in the amount of active residents across the whole of Britain.

Between May 2015 and May 2018, the amount of residents who said they completed 150 minutes or more of exercise a week rose by 16.1 per cent - the highest figure in the UK.

A total of 66.2 per cent of those surveyed now consider themselves to be active for the recommended period each week.

Braintree also had the biggest reduction in the number of inactive residents across Essex over the last three years, according to the Active Lives survey.

Braintree Council has aimed to increase residents' health and wellbeing with its BeWell Strategy and Livewell campaign, the latter of which has now been adopted by all 12 authorities across the county.

Peter Tattersley, councillor responsible for health and communities, said: "We designed our BeWell Strategy to be simple but effective, because we understand that being active can improve people’s general physical and mental well-being.

"Our multi-agency approach to getting people active has had tremendous results and we will continue to strengthen our relationship with partners and build on the success of our Livewell campaign.”

The four point strategy focuses on getting people active, increasing participation in competitive sport, improving facilities and engaging with residents, inspiring them to make a change.

John Wood, chairman of Active Braintree Network, said: "There has been such a fantastic commitment from everyone involved which has led to the most significant increase in adults being more active.

"The campaigns from Active Essex such as the 30:30 challenge, our partnerships with local sports clubs and physical activity organisations who are providing every resident the chance to participate and Fusion Lifestyle who design sport and activity opportunities across the district for all, have all helped fulfil our aim of getting more people more active.

"Working with partners in this way will really help the Active Essex vision to get 1 million people in our county active.”