Bristol is now the best shopping destination in the South West.

The city came twelfth in the UK's league table of places people like to go shopping.

A survey was carried out by Venuescore which charts the rapidly changing face of Britain's shopping centres.

Bristol was placed at 27 last year but since the opening of Cabot Circus the city has jumped 15 places in the league table.

Bristol's overall score of 368 points means it has been classed as South West's best shopping destination ahead of Cheltenham, Plymouth and Bath, which scored 284 (rank 27), 275 (rank 28) and 266 (rank 30) respectively.

Each shopping desination is evaluated using a scoring system which takes account of the presence in each location of chain stores, department stores, fashion outlets and shops that sell goods other than clothes.

Cabot Circus centre Director Richard Belt said: "Since the opening of Cabot Circus in September, Bristol has risen sharply up the retail rankings and is now considered a leading UK shopping destination by industry experts.

"Cabot Circus was also awarded the BCSC Supreme Gold Award 2008 – one of the industry's highest accolades – in recognition of its outstanding achievement to the industry during the year.

"In particular, the strength of the retail offer, with some 75 of the retailers new to the city, has played a major role in attracting many customers from outside the immediate area, from Bath, Cheltenham and beyond, boosting the number of shoppers visiting the city centre."

Operations director of Destination Bristol John Hirst said: "For many years shopping in the centre of Bristol has been below the standard we have all desired, with Bristol's position in the national retail rankings simply not good enough.

"However, following the opening of Cabot Circus in 2008 and the completion of the first phase of the improvements in Broadmead, we are delighted that Venuescore have recognised our massive improvement and ranked us at number 12 in the UK.

Our aim now is to move even higher up the national rankings and to constantly improve our existing offer here in central Bristol."

Venuescore looked at Broadwalk in Knowle as well as Broadmead and Cabot Circus.

Categories scoring points for the city included Somerfield and foodservice operators Subway and Boswell's, all of which have outlets at Broadwalk.

Tim Moloney, centre manager at Broadwalk Shopping Centre said: "The huge jump in this year's rating is excellent news for us at Broadwalk and Bristol with over 50 per cent of Broadwalk's stores contributing to the scoring for the survey.

"It shows that the city has continued to remain robust in the present economic climate as well as offering its shoppers and tourists a varied and interesting retail mix."