It's official - we're in the UK's love capital (From Free Press Series)

It's official - we're in the UK's love capital

SEX in the city? Maybe so but it's romance you'll find in the countryside - or at least Undy in Monmouthshire, the official love capital of the UK.

According to a new study by the Office of National Statistics, a small electoral ward in Undy, The Elms, has fewer single people living there than anywhere else in the country.

So what is it about Undy that makes it so habitable and comfortable for loving couples?

Max Pritchard, originally from Undy, moved into Pembroke Close after he and wife Christine gave birth to little Anna, just over a year ago.

Max, 32, said: "I lived in London for 10 years and was doing the 'rock-star' thing, drumming in bands. So I've had my years as a single man doing 'single-man' things.

"But I've not just come home to roost now I have a family - there's still plenty going on here for us to do. I do off-road motorcycling and Christine rides horses.

"The country lends itself to spending lots more time together as a family and we have three cities nearby for when we need them."

Christine, 31, said: "We have loads of friends here who are all couples with one child which is great for us. As a single woman elsewhere I used to plan New Year's Eve nights around finding the best venue and the biggest buzz but here we go round to friends' houses with our children, it's the company that makes a party not the place or the glamour."

The Pritchards say it's important to them to live somewhere where they can "breathe as a family" and become closer.

Christine said: "There's less distractions for men here so we get to spend more of our time together. I don't know any single people."

But according to the study, 12 per cent of the population in The Elms are single, so where are they?

Mark Labbett currently lives in St Annes Crescent but is moving to Newport where he says it is easier to be single.

The 38-year-old teacher said: "I moved here 10 years ago because it was a sociable place to be at the time but now I'd say Undy is a bad place to be if you're not in a relationship.

"Most of my friends here are coupled up so most of my social life is in Newport. I'm moving so I don't have to drive back here every night."

Gideon Calder of the social studies department at University College Wales Newport said: "The reason is unlikely to be magic love-dust in the air, more a combination of cultural and economic factors that make Undy an attractive place for young married couples and retired couples."