MANCHESTER Airport is the best in Britain, according to a Holiday Which? report.

The airport - which is the third largest in the country - came top of the league following an investigation into its facilities for passengers.

It beat its two main rivals, London Heathrow and Gatwick.

The news has pleased bosses at Manchester Airport who said today: "It's good news. From our point of view, the report was fair and balanced. It pointed out areas which we can improve on and we will be looking at them."

Manchester Airport was praised in particular for Terminal 1 which it said had a good separation of shops and food in the landside lounge and "an excellent choice of eateries." It said there was also "an attractive shopping area around a central court." The report, published in Holiday Which? magazine today, also praised the more recently built Terminal 2 for its "well-designed modern layout." Terminal 3 was referred to as having "a smart design and tidy check-in hall."

But there were some gripes. Food was given between two and three stars with judges deeming the service to be slow at times.

The magazine, published by the Consumers' Association, reported Terminal 1 to be noisy with "unsightly low ceilings". It said Terminal 2 had a limited number of shops and food outlets landside and that Terminal 3 had no shops at all.

It reported some items to be expensive. CDs were £4 cheaper at a nearby supermarket than at Manchester Airport, it found. But the airport was labelled best for public transport to and from nearby cities and towns.

The magazine's staff spent six months researching the UK's busiest airports to see whether the biggest were still the best or if the smaller ones now offer travellers a better experience.

It said Manchester's growing rival, the smaller LIverpool John Lennon Airport, had a sleek modern terminal and slick operation to go with it. But because the airport is undergoing major building work to expand its retail space, the judges did not make a full report on the terminal.

Investigators did, however, believe Liverpool's landside shopping area was nothing special and lacked natural light. And East Midlands Airport, also popular with Bolton air travellers, was said have a drab shopping area and a food court which resembled a motorway service station.

Manchester Airport is part owned by Bolton Council which has a ten per cent share, as do all of the 10 boroughs which make up Greater Manchester.