Virgin Money Car Insurance says while drivers looking for Britain's most car-friendly town should take a trip to Telford, Northampton is bottom of the pile because of "high levels" of vehicle crime, few parking spaces and expensive petrol.

The UK's 50 largest populated towns and cities were rated for such things as petrol prices, cost of parking, the number of car parks and the level of car crime.

Telford scored highly in each of the categories and was the best town for car parks. Newcastle-upon-Tyne was runner-up to Telford with Dundee third, Sunderland fourth and Blackpool fifth.

Just above Northampton at the bottom were London, Cardiff, Birmingham and Liverpool, which all scored poorly in each of the categories.

Bristol had the most expensive parking where a two-hour stay cost an average of £5.

The "car crime capital" was Manchester with an average of 8.9 incidents per 1,000 people. Swindon was the "safest" town, with just 2.2 incidents per 1,000 people.

Reading in Berkshire had more speed cameras than anywhere outside London, while Hull had none at all.

Northampton's fuel prices have hit record levels in recent months and only last week police revealed the number of fuel siphoning thefts in April had doubled compared with the previous year.

In addition, Northampton Borough Council is backing plans for the complete closure of one of Northampton's biggest car parks, Greyfriars, amid concerns that it so dilapidated it may not last another five years.

Borough councillor Trini Crake (Lib-Dem, Boughton Green), cabinet member for environment, said: "I'm really shocked by this news, I can't believe Northampton is reckoned to be worse than London. But I used to fill up my car for £45 and now it costs £65 and driving is becoming very expensive. We have to find ways of cutting down our use of the car."

Councillor Crake said she did not believe parking prices compared unfavourably with other towns such as Milton Keynes.

Figures from Northamptonshire Police suggest vehicle crime in the sector covering Northampton has actually dropped in the past year with marked falls in the number of recorded thefts of and from cars and vehicle interference.

Scott Mowbray, of Virgin Money, said: "The UK's 33 million motorists face many frustrations. The number of speeding tickets issued to motorists has almost trebled in the last 10 years and petrol prices continue to soar.

"It's easy to see why, for many, motoring has evolved from a pleasure to an exercise in survival on the roads. Although no town or city is perfect, thankfully there are still some pockets of the country that are still suitable for a Sunday drive."

This is how the UK's main towns and cities did in the car-friendly survey:

1. Telford

2. Dundee

3. Newcastle

4. Sunderland

5. Belfast

6. Blackpool

7. Derby

8. Portsmouth

9. Poole

10. Aberdeen

11. Dudley

12. Norwich

13. Ipswich

14. Bolton

15. York

16. Wolverhampton

17. Bournemouth

18. Middlesbrough

19. West Bromwich

20. Preston

21. Huddersfield

22. Southend

23. Plymouth

24. Swansea

25. Swindon

26. Leicester

27. Hull

28. Luton

29. Milton Keynes

30. Walsall

31. Peterborough

32. Brighton and Hove

33. Southampton

34. Coventry

35. Glasgow

36. Manchester

37. Bradford

38. Oxford

39. Stoke

40. Bristol

41. Edinburgh

42. Reading

43. Leeds

44. Sheffield

45. Nottingham

46. Liverpool

47. Birmingham

48. London

49. Cardiff

50. Northampton