Mansfield residents have to work for longer to purchase a Greggs' sausage roll than almost anywhere in the country

A nationwide cost of living index published today names Mansfield as the place where people have to work sixth hardest in the 100 towns and cities surveyed across the country to purchase one of the popular snacks.

In Mansfield, ravenous residents have to clock-up 4.46 minutes at work to sink their teeth into one of the tasty treats, with only workers in Hereford, Truru, Nuneaton, Middlesborough and Lichfield having to work longer.

In the Staffordshire town, people have to work on average of 4.54 minutes to tuck in to a delicious ‘dog roll’, while in the other four it is 4.48 minutes.

The fun cost of living index, similar to the long-established Big Mac Index – published by The Economist since 1986 – and measures purchasing power around the country.

The fastest earned sausage rolls were mostly in the South East with London (2mins 58secs), Oxford (3mins 15secs), Slough, Guildford (both 3mins 16secs) and Derby (3mins 17secs) making up the top five.

Derby’s high ranking is indicative of the city’s relatively high earnings levels while Scotland also performed well with both Glasgow and Edinburgh in the Top 25, reflecting the fact that its median hourly pay rate is slightly above the national average.

Greggs’ spiritual home of Newcastle-upon-Tyne — where the late John Gregg opened his first shop in 1951 — managed only 30th place in the list of the country’s fastest earned sausage rolls. Geordies had to work an estimated 3mins 46secs to scrape together the necessary funds.

Further down the list, Cardiff came 40th with people working 3mins 54secs for their sausage roll while Swansea was lower still in 57th place with 4mins 12secs of effort required.

InvestingReviews.co.uk commissioned senior independent economist John Hawksworth to carry out the study of 100 cities and towns across Great Britain, measuring the amount of time a typical full-time employee has to work to afford a takeaway sausage roll from the famous bakery.

John Hawksworth said: “In part the analysis is a bit of fun with the sausage roll standing in for the Big Mac as a standardised product to compare purchasing power across different places. But it does also make the serious point that there are very large variations in income levels across our towns and cities."