The capital has slumped from second to seventh in a survey rating the UK's 12 largest cities for their quality of life.

The latest MoneySuperMarket ­Quality of Living Index indicates the gap between Edinburgh and Glasgow has narrowed, while the Welsh capital Cardiff came top of the list, replacing Bristol in the number one position.

Glasgow dipped from ninth to 10th in the table, but is now just three places behind Edinburgh.

Dan Plant, consumer finance expert at MoneySuperMarket, said the Scots cities' lower positions in the index were largely explained by a decline in disposable income, which has not risen in line with the other 12 cities. Disposable income fell by 0.7 percentage points in Glasgow and 0.3 percentage points in Edinburgh.

Glasgow was helped by a jobs market which outperforms most of the other big cities, with a 1.7 percentage-point fall in the rate of unemployment against an average 1.0 percentage-point fall.

It also registered a five per cent increase in annual salary levels - which has taken the average yearly earnings there to £23,119.