The Granite City found itself ranked last in a survey of the UK's 100 best business locations.

The survey, which ranked London as the best business area, was commissioned by Bradford & Bingley Relocation Services.

Aberdeen "over-dependent on oil" ?

The results also make gloomy reading for Edinburgh which languished near the foot of the table in 96th place.

Glasgow was rated 10th overall, which is likely to add more fuel to the intense rivalry between the east and west coast cities.

The West Midlands, St Albans and Birmingham were placed in the top 10, while Scotland's losing cities were joined by Portsmouth, Fareham and Exeter.

The report said Aberdeen was perceived as being inaccessible and as suffering from high transport and labour costs.

"The overriding importance of workforce factors continues to give London, and specifically parts of Greater London, a distinct advantage over all other UK locations," the report said.

"The potential catchment and quality of labour, combined with proximity to the country's principal markets, main motorway networks and international gateways outweigh the disadvantages of operating costs and congestion.

'Limited supply'

"At the other end of the scale, Aberdeen is considered remote, with a correspondingly limited supply of labour, poor local infrastructure and over-dependence on oil."

However, Derek Marnoch, of Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce, was unconvinced by the results of the survey.

He said: "It depends what question you ask.

Derek Marnoch: "These surveys are always questionable"

"If it's manufacturing, where you have to bring in raw materials and have transportation costs, then obviously we are at a disadvantage.

"But an awful lot of business is now being done over the internet and it doesn't really matter where you are in the country."

Mr Marnoch said Aberdeen was the centre of the oil industry in Britain but he denied the city relied on it too much.

"There are other industries here and we have a very high quality labour force," he added.

The survey found that the most important factor for setting up a business in a particular place was its location, followed by its proximity to customers and transport, and then operating costs.

The biggest problems faced by employers in their current locations were a lack of transport infrastructure, high costs, labour shortages, poor skills among the workforce and traffic congestion.

London was rated as having the worst transport services and Greater Manchester the best.