OXFORDSHIRE care homes have been ranked among the best in the country.

A nationwide survey by consumer watchdog Which? concluded that 75 per cent of Oxfordshire care home beds are in establishments rated either 'Good' or 'Outstanding' – the top two grades – by the Care Quality Commission (CQC).

Which? also found that a relatively low 14 per cent of beds were in homes rated 'Requires Improvement' or 'Inadequate' – the lowest two grades.

The national survey concluded that in some local authority areas, as many as 50 per cent of care home beds are rated at those lowest two grades, putting Oxfordshire ahead of the curve.

The good news comes after a CQC report released in August concluded that Oxfordshire's care homes were, on average, the tenth most expensive in the UK.

Releasing its own report yesterday, Which? said the lack of good-quality care was particularly acute in the London borough of Westminster, where 69 per cent of beds were at those lowest-two grades.

In total, nearly a third of all local authority areas – 45 councils – were found to have one in three beds or more in poor-quality homes.

Nine of those boroughs were in the capital.

The top-performing areas in the survey were the Isles of Scilly, where 100 per cent of homes were 'Good' or 'Outstanding', Richmond upon Thames, Rutland and Blackburn with Darwen.

Which? managing director of public markets Alex Hayman said: "Having to choose a poor care home isn’t really making a choice at all, and it’s disturbing to know that so many people across the country are already in care homes that are clearly not good enough."