Where most royalists will raise a toast...

Is Hertfordshire the most patriotic place in the country?

The county’s royalists will be spoilt for choice over where to drink a toast to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

More than 450 of the nation’s 9,500 planned street parties will take place in the county, including 95 in St Albans alone. Across the country, twice as many residents’ groups have applied to hold parties than those who marked the wedding of Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge last year.

Although applications to close roads for parties have been registered in every part of England and Wales, the highest numbers have come in from the Home Counties.

According to the Local Government Association, Hertfordshire will hold 451 street parties, followed by Surrey (419), Hampshire (419), Kent (306) and Essex (283). Outside the capital, the cities and towns planning the most celebrations are Bristol (91), Leeds (72), Birmingham (71), Southend-on-Sea (67) and Coventry (64).