the M6 motorway and the relatively low price and availability of suitable building land. Governance Middlewich has lain within the county boundaries of Cheshire since a very early time. At the time of the Domesday survey (1086) Middlewich was in the hundred of Middlewich, but by the 14th century it had become part of the Northwich hundred, although a small part of the then large parish of Middlewich extended into the hundred of Eddisbury. Following the Local Government Act 1894, Middlewich became an urban district. In 1974, as part of the Local Government Act 1972, Middlewich Urban District was abolished and its territory passed into the borough of Congleton. Since 1 April 2009 the town has been served by Cheshire East Council. The town also has a town council, which is responsible for presiding over local issues in Middlewich and is based at Middlewich Town Hall. Middlewich is in the parliamentary constituency of Congleton. The current MP is Fiona Bruce for the Conservative Party, elected in the 2010 General Election. Previously, Ann Winterton, also a member of the Conservative Party, had been the MP since the constituency's creation in 1983. Geography Middlewich is located at (53.192, −2.443), on the confluence of three rivers, the Dane, the Croco and the Wheelock. The town is approximately from junction 18 of the M6 motorway. The main westward traffic route between the motorway and Winsford, and also southbound traffic to Crewe, go through the town. There are three canals in Middlewich, the Middlewich Branch of the Shropshire Union Canal, the Trent and Mersey Canal, and the Wardle Canal, the United Kingdom's shortest canal at long. The town sits less than above sea level, on Upper Triassic Mercia mudstone laid down with large salt deposits as part of the Cheshire plain, a boulder clay plain separating the hills of North Wales and the Peak District of Derbyshire, formed following the retreat of ice age glaciers. The climate is generally temperate with few extremes of temperature or weather. The mean average temperature is slightly above average for the United Kingdom as is the average amount of sunshine. The average annual rainfall is slightly below the average for the UK. There are few days when snow is lying on the ground, although there are some days of air frost. Demography At the 2001 UK census, the Middlewich wards of Cledford and Kinderton had a total population of