Edinburgh has been ranked the best city in the UK for its local travel links for the second year running.

It also claimed the top spot for ease of long distance travel in the survey of 45 UK towns, cities and regions, up from 14th place last year and ousting York from first place.

Cambridge in England and Carmarthenshire in Wales ranked joint bottom for being the most difficult areas to travel within, scoring six out of ten in this year's Easy Travel Index.

The study, conducted by transport company ESP Group, asked respondents to rate how easy they find travelling within their local area and also how they rate travelling further afield from where they live.

Edinburgh scored 7.5 out of ten for ease of local travel and 7.1 out of ten for ease of longer distance travel.

Dr Steve Cassidy, managing director of Viaqqio, which is part of ESP Group, said: "It's interesting to see that the top cities are predominantly Scottish and northern English cities.

"This could be linked to longer commutes in the south, though efficient and customer-focused public transport can benefit all."

The survey also showed a total of 30% of respondents said they sometimes do not leave the house due to travel concerns.

Dr Cassidy added: "With 30% of people sometimes feeling housebound due to fears of travelling, more work needs to be done to address common problems that can be easily resolved.

"As an industry, we are striving to ensure public transport is accessible and attractive to all those who want to use it."