THE nation's best - and worst - cities for parking have been revealed, and it's bad news for motorists in Norwich, Southampton, and Brighton but good for those driving in Liverpool.

The first ever UK Parking Index, compiled by leading parking marketplace YourParkingSpaceranked 17 major UK cities by surveying a nationally representative sample of 2,000 respondents on parking provisions in their local area.

Respondents were asked how often spaces are available, the difficulty of parking near shops or restaurants, how stressful the parking is, and how expensive it is.

Norwich topped the table for all the wrong reasons - with almost a third (32 per cent) branding parking in the city expensive, a quarter (26 per cent) reporting a lack of spaces, 18 per cent saying its stressful, and another 18 per cent highlighting the difficulty of parking near shops and restaurants.

Altogether, that gave Norwich a frustration score of 94 out of 100 - the highest in the country.

Southampton takes the unfortunate title of second place with a frustration index score of 88.36, driven by high costs (26 per cent), difficulty parking near local amenities (25 per cent) and stress levels (17 per cent).

The nation's capital, London, also ranked high with a frustration total of 83.79. More than one in four (26 per cent) Londoners bemoan a lack of spaces and price, while a quarter (25 per cent) say it's difficult to park near shops or restaurants.

North of the border, Glasgow sits fourth with a total of 80.26, with over a quarter (27 per cent) of Glaswegians reporting a lack of spaces and more than one in five (22 per cent) drivers saying parking is expensive.

Newcastle rounds out the top five at 78.51, where over a quarter (27 per cent) of Geordies label their city's parking as pricey, 22 per cent complain about a lack of spaces, and 15 per cent stating that they think parking is stressful.

And while some cities struggled, others emerged as parking havens.

Liverpool recorded the UK's lowest frustration score at just 37.79, topping the "ease" rankings for both safety and value for money. Nottingham (47.74) and Edinburgh (52.14) followed closely, with Sheffield (54.94) and Plymouth (57.83) also performing well above the national average of 68.95.

Andy Syrett, chief revenue officer at YourParkingSpace, commented: "Parking can make or break a trip into town, and our new UK Parking Index shows just how big the gap is between the easiest and most frustrating cities to park in.

"High costs, limited availability, and stressful conditions can put drivers off visiting city centres altogether - but the good news is that many of the issues can be avoided by pre-booking a space, ensuring it's guaranteed, good value, and close to your destination."