Ipswich has made it into the top 20 UK towns and cities in a study of disposable household income increases.

Accounting group UHY Hacker Young, which carried out the research using Office for National Statistics data between 2004 to 2009, found disposable income in the town had grown by nearly 16% over the five year period, putting it 20th in the table.

It went up by �12,868 to �14,913 up to 2009, while Norwich, which lies two places behind, saw its disposable household income increase by 0.1% less than Ipswich, from �11,902 to �13,779.

Aberdeen enjoyed the fastest disposable income rise in the UK in recent years at 25%, on the back of its oil boom. Glasgow and Dundee also came in the top five, with London in second place.

In 2004 people living in the Aberdeen area had �13,669 left over, leaping by 24.65% over five years to �17,039.

The capital saw a 22.13% jump over the same period, with households pocketing �19,658 in 2009 compared with �16,096 five years earlier.

UHY Hacker Young partner Marc Waterman said: “London has been seen as streets ahead of all the other UK towns and cities for growth in disposable household income, but these figures show that the gap is closing.”

He predicted that with more public sector budget cuts on the way, growth in disposable income may moderate or reverse for some towns that are heavily dependent on public sector employment.