List compiled by holiday price comparison site, TravelSupermarket, places the Baltic area in fourth place behind Manchester’s Ancoats district, Leith in Edinburgh and Digbeth in Birmingham. Tony McDonough reports.

Liverpool’s thriving Baltic Triangle district has been named as one of “hippest” places in the UK.

In a list compiled by holiday price comparison site, TravelSupermarket, the Baltic area came fourth behind Manchester’s Ancoats district, Leith in Edinburgh and Digbeth in Birmingham.

Another Liverpool city centre district, the Ropewalks, came in at 15th on the Hip Hang-out Neighbourhood Index.

For years the Baltic district was a collection of abandoned warehouses just north of the city centre.

Now it is home to more than 400 creative and digital businesses as well as a growing number of bars and restaurants.

In particular, Baltic Creative and Elevator Studios have become hubs for the creative and digital sector.

Emma Coulthurst from TravelSupermarket said the aim of the index is to inspire city breakers with ideas for new places to discover.

She explained: “The Index will hopefully put Liverpool even more on the map and encourage new and returning visitors to explore the city.

“We scoured the UK to find the most current, independent-feeling neighbourhoods.

“The destinations on the list are exciting areas, unspoiled by commercialism, where locals love to hang out.

“They offer an eclectic range of food and entertainment away from the tourist throngs”.

“You’ll be pleased to know that we didn’t base the ranking on beard-to-face and pints of craft beer ratios.

“Instead, we looked at everything from independent coffee shops and vintage fashion outposts to the local creative culture – the things that set a hip destination apart from the rest of the pack.”

She added that anywhere with “peak hipster” status, such as London’s Shoreditch, didn’t make the cut.

“Places like this are now overrun by chains,” she said.