TRAFFORD is one of the least environmentally friendly areas in the country, according to a survey.

The borough came third from bottom of a table that ranked the green' credentials of towns and boroughs throughout the country.

Trafford languished at the bottom of the league - with only Renfrewshire and Barking and Dagenham below it.

And the borough was in the bottom 25 in six of the seven categories surveyed.

The study was carried out by a local information website, Locallife, which aimed to find the country's greenest districts by analysing the number of environmentally-friendly businesses in each area. Districts gained points for the number of companies that were associated with green' activities. The results were compiled from Locallife's 325 local internet directories.

Points were gained for companies involved in recycling, double glazing, insulation and asbestos disposal. Other points were gained for farm shops, which sell local produce and so cut pollution, and organic food firms. Areas were also marked up for charity shops, as they recycle goods and cut down on energy resources used in making new products.

Each area was awarded a score based on the number of businesses in each category, calculated per head - the higher the ratios of green companies to population the higher the score. This meant Trafford, with a population of 213,000, lost out to area's with smaller populations.

Trafford was in the bottom 25 out of the 325 areas for double glazing (315th), insulation services (316), organic food (315), charity shops (304) asbestos services (313) and farms shops (320). The borough's best performing category was recycling, where it was ranked 183rd.

A spokesman for Locallife.co.uk said: "Trafford performed badly across the sectors, although it did perform well in the recycling category, where it comes in at 183rd place - compared to its overall position of 323rd out of 325. It also fared proportionately better in the charity shop section.

"Trafford's problems stem from its population density. The Locallife.co.uk index is calculated on a per capita basis, and with a population of approximately 213,000, Trafford loses out to towns with smaller populations like Skegness, which has roughly a tenth of its population."

Trafford's results were reflected across the north generally, with the north west and north east scoring mid to bottom in every category.

Norwich was the top ranked area.

UK'S LEAST GREEN TOWNS: 1 Barking and Dagenham 2 Renfrewshire 3 Trafford 4 Kingston Upon Hull 5 Hackney 6 Southwark 7 Greenwich 8 Lewisham 9 Islington 10 Whitehaven and Workington