Ardglass, Hillsborough and Holywood in Co Down, and Castlerock in Co Derry are all on the list.

Five towns and villages in Northern Ireland have been singled out as exceptional places to live by the Sunday Times in a list due to be published this weekend.

The national newspaper has compiled a UK wide guide called the Best Places to Live in Britain.

It combines data and statistics such as crime rates, house prices and school performance with the local knowledge and expertise of Sunday Times writers to compile the definitive top locations to make your home.

The sleepy north Antrim village Ballycastle came out on top for Northern Ireland.

Ardglass, Hillsborough and Holywood in Co Down, and Castlerock in Co Derry, also made the guide.

The Sunday Times Best Places to Live in Britain Part 1 is the first of a two-part series. This weekend it reveals the best places to live in the South-east, East, North-east and Yorkshire, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales.

Part two, published on Sunday, March 20, will reveal the best places in the South-west, Midlands, London and the North-west, as well as the overall best place to live in the UK.

The Sunday Times Home Editor Helen Davies said: "Britain is full of great places to live, and our annual supplement celebrates the richness on offer from bustling market towns and buzzing city centres to sociable suburbs and sleepy hamlets. We go beyond dry statistics, drawing on personal experience and the expertise of our writers, to create the definitive list of the best places to live in the UK."