Brentwood and Ongar is among the top 50 wealthiest areas in the country - a new study published by Barclays Bank reveals.

The research, based on a survey of the bank's eight million current account customers, shows that those earning £60,000 a year or more account for 6.6 per cent - or one in 15 - of the local population.

This places Brentwood & Ongar on a par with Croydon South, Bromley & Chislehurst in Kent, and Altrincham and Sale West in Greater Manchester as the joint 23rd most affluent parliamentary constituency in England and Wales.

Top of the table - which ranked 569 constituencies in all - was the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where 12.5 per cent of residents earn £60,000-plus.

News of survey results was welcomed by Roger Kelsey, the chairman of the Brentwood Chamber of Commerce, who said the area was close to central London and its good transport links were attractive to high earners.

However, he claimed that while the survey reflected the position of those in full-time work, it did not take account of retired people living on investment income - many of whom he said had been hit hard by the slide in interest rates.

Published Monday August 19, 2002

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