Residents will probably do a double-take but Sittingbourne has been rated the third most resilient town in England.

According to a survey by London-based retail consultancy CWM the north Kent town is bouncing back in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Jonathan De Mello, the firm's equity partner, said successful towns scored well because they had professionals living nearby and "essential shops" such as supermarkets which had performed well during the coronavirus lockdowns.

The survey took in 222 towns. Yate near Bristol came first followed by Spalding in Lincolnshire. Sittingbourne was third and Tonbridge was named fourth. Kingston upon Thames was the best performing large centre.

The news comes after many shops reported their worst year on record. More than 16,000 stores in the UK closed and nearly 180,000 retail jobs were lost.

The multi-million-pound Spirit of Sittingbourne Bourne Place town centre development has also been hit hard with two national chains, Pizza Express and Creams, pulling out of the regeneration project.

The Light’s cinema fit-out was completed just before Christmas. The Sentado Lounge café bar, which is beneath the recently opened 63-bed Travelodge hotel, was the first eatery in the new leisure quarter to open its doors in October last year.

Swale council's leader Cllr Roger Truelove said this week: "It is always welcome to see one of our towns near the top of a league table. Nobody would suggest all is wonderful but this is us compared with 221 other small towns, all suffering from the economic impact of the pandemic.

"I am not surprised that we are in a more resilient state than most. It is nothing to do with the Spirit of Sittingbourne project. More relevant is the strong concentration of supermarkets in Sittingbourne and the fact they have been well used over the last year.

"An added factor, too, is the fact that so many people are working from home and likely to spend more in the town than when they were travelling to London to work. In this there is great opportunity for the future with people working from home and buying their lunch in town and using the improved opportunities for leisure.

"Let’s not look down on our towns but make them better in the future."

Mr Mello said: "Our Covid retail resilience rankings highlight those centres that have remained robust and in some instances have actually performed better since the onset of the pandemic.

"We have made use of a wide range of data points to assess relative retail resilience across thousands of retail locations from city centres to local high streets. A strong and substantial grocery offer has been key to the success of these centres as well as the presence of other ‘essential’ retail.

"The drive to localism in spending is principally down to home-working and necessary restrictions on mobility and this has boosted local high streets such as Yate, Spalding, Sittingbourne and Tonbridge and the mainly independent retailers that trade in these locations.

"As well as local centres, retail parks in densely populated residential areas have proved particularly resilient, particularly those with a large grocery anchor, DIY and pet products that have performed well over the past year."

He predicted that the rapid take-up of Covid vaccinations will begin a return to office working "in the next few months" and tourism will increase but added: "With some element of home-working now potentially here to stay longer term, the centres highlighted in our rankings are likely to continue to prove resilient now and into the future."

He put success down to commuters living nearby who could continue to work from home which meant their income and spending power was not affected.

CWM has also worked with redeveloping Covent Garden and Battersea Power Station. The survey took in five key factors: shops' trading performances; nearness to residential areas; reduced local spending power; increased home-working and city exodus (where workers and students moved away).

Sittingbourne boasts five of the main supermarket chains (Sainsbury's, Morrisons, Aldi, Lidl and Asda plus a Marks and Spencer food hall), Homebase and Wickes DIY stores plus Pets At Home and a Halfords.

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