MORE than 60 per cent of people in St Helens described themselves as Christian in the latest Census results, higher than the national average which dipped below 50 per cent for the first time.

Across England and Wales, for the first time, fewer than half of people identified as Christian, the Census 2021 revealed.

The proportion of people who said they were Christian was 46.2 per cent, down from 59.3 per cent in the last census in 2011.

In contrast the number who said they had no religion increased to 37.2 per cent of the population, up from a quarter.

Those identifying as Muslim rose from 4.9 per cent in 2011 to 6.5 per cent last year.

READ > Student achieves first-class degree despite dyslexia challenges

Meanwhile, in St Helens, 62.3 per cent of respondents identified as Christian.

The next biggest category was those who claimed to have 'No Religion', which consisted of 31.2 per cent of people.

Meanwhile, 0.7 per cent identified as Muslim, 0.3 per cent as Buddhist, 0.2 per cent as Hindu.

There were 4.7 per cent of people in St Helens who did not answer the question about religion.

Other boroughs in the region also had higher Christian percentages than the national average with Wigan 62.8 per cent Christian, Halton 58.6 per cent, Knowsley 66.6 per cent, Sefton 64.4 per cent and Liverpool 57.3 per cent.