Few places scream glamour on a wet winter ­afternoon, let alone a supermarket car park. But the pay-and-display opposite Waitrose in Cobham can still make quite an impression on first-time ­visitors. A red ­Lotus Elise here, two Maseratis over there. Oh look, a silver Porsche Carrera. And a Bentley. Smoked window Range Rovers? All over the place.

Nearly all these cars have personalised number plates. More than one seen roaring through the Surrey village on this bleak afternoon sports the letters CFC — Chelsea Football Club.

It is well known that several of the club’s star players, including John Terry, live in gated mansions just up the road in Oxshott. Like Cobham, it is in the district council area of Elmbridge, which also includes ­Claygate, Esher and Weybridge, each a couple of miles apart. Twenty years ago, this was the heart of what was called the ‘gin and Jag’ belt; now it is nicknamed the ‘Beverly Hills of Britain’.

It’s gained its title after ­triumphing again in the latest ­Quality of Life survey — in the past five years, Cobham has four times been named the best place to live in the country.

Residents of this exclusive corner of Surrey, which lies just inside the M25, have a ­better lifestyle than most other ­people in ­Britain in nearly every way, found the Halifax survey.

They are fitter, live longer, earn more and their children do better in exams. Cobham is even said to have nicer weather, with less than average annual rainfall …”

By David Wilkes. The Mail 3rd January 2011