Why Leeds and Sheffield are better for Halloween than Bradford and Hull

The property search website Zoopla measured the towns and cities by factors including house prices, crime and road accident rates.

Milton Keynes topped its “trick or treat index”, with its relatively low road traffic accident rate of 0.24 incidents involving pedestrians per 1,000 residents, as well as low crime rates. Its high scores for safety meant that it came out best, despite homes there being valued at slightly lower than the average property price of £250,000 across England.

Leeds ranked in third position due to its high housing density and relatively low crime.

These were the best towns and cities for trick or treating according to Zoopla, with average property values there followed by the number of households, the number of incidents of violent crime per 1,000 residents, the number of pedestrian-related road traffic accidents per 1,000 residents and the overall score:

1. Milton Keynes, £224,183, 105,981, 0.26, 0.24, 127

2. Stockport, £202,312, 114,783, 0.22, 0.31, 124

3. Leeds, £170,352, 303,937, 0.20, 0.51, 119

=4. Birmingham, £153,106, 464,587, 0.13, 0.55, 114

=4. Reading, £308,375, 139,931, 0.44, 0.41, 114

6. Southampton, £223,271, 190,762, 0.34, 0.51, 113

=7. Bristol, £233,406, 361,584, 0.46, 0.51, 111

=7. Coventry, £157,587, 158,129, 0.26, 0.40, 111

9. Sheffield, £161,058, 290,065, 0.20, 0.52, 110

10. Swindon, £187,815, 109,979, 0.31, 0.30, 109

And here are the towns and cities that came out worst in the trick or treat research, with average property values there followed by the number of households, the number of incidents of violent crime per 1,000 residents, the number of pedestrian-related road traffic accidents per 1,000 residents and the overall score:

1. Middlesbrough, £133,384, 89,801, 0.74, 0.56, 25

2. Huddersfield, £151,964, 92,752, 0.58, 0.81, 30

3. Oldham, £124,782, 90,019, 0.38, 0.48, 49

4. Preston, £165,631, 130,329, 0.73, 0.85, 54

5. Hull, £114,371, 150,578, 0.44, 0.56, 63

6. Brighton, £288,519, 96,173, 0.63, 0.65, 64

7. Nottingham, £156,342, 352,596, 0.73, 0.67, 67

8. Lincoln, £158,045, 97,159, 0.88, 0.25, 73

9. Barnsley, £122,354, 94,502, 0.14, 0.48, 75

10. Bradford, £118,414, 144,141, 0.20, 0.64, 76

In Leeds, meanwhile, spooked motorists have been taking a second look at a ghoulish garden that is lighting up a main road for Halloween.

Alan Steele, 44, has been causing a fright by bringing festive phantoms, grim reapers and tombstones to his home in Scott Hall Road, Potternewton.

The concrete repair worker’s home has attracted plenty of trick or treaters already, as he aims to revive the annual tradition among families north of Leeds city centre.

Mr Steele said: “Children aren’t seeing things like this and growing up with the tradition as much anymore, so it’s absolutely fantastic to see their little faces light up.

“I love Halloween, it’s for the children anyway but I’ve not grown out of it yet and I don’t intend to.”

He said this is the first year the house has drawn significant attention, having annually displayed his frightful decorations at his old home on a cul-de-sac on the nearby Beckhill Estate up until this year.

The family has already stocked up on treats in anticipation of a spike in interest tonight.

Mr Steele added: “We get lots of trick or treaters, it sort of draws them to it, it’s unreal. We have had a lot of people over the last week stopping to take photos.”