British seaside towns dominate a list of the top 20 places for bankruptcies in the UK.

A ranking of the areas with the most personal insolvencies, published by the accountants UHY Hacker Young, points to the economic problems faced by seaside towns.

Scarborough ranks second out of 347 local authorities in the UK for personal insolvencies in 2018, with 47.8 insolvencies per 10,000 adults, compared with the UK average of 25.

Torbay ranks third with 45.7 insolvencies per 10,000 adults. Plymouth and Blackpool rank fourth (45.2) and sixth (43.8) respectively.

Seaside towns are a long way from recovering from the decades of contraction in their traditional coastal industries such as tourism, ship-building and fishing, according to the accountants.

The weakness of seaside economies also mean more skilled young professionals are moving away from coastal towns leaving behind a population more heavily weighted with pensioners.

Peter Kubik, turnaround and recovery partner at UHY Hacker Young, commented: ‘People living in seaside towns continue to fall into bankruptcy as the coastal economy fails to keep up with the rest of the country.

‘Coastal towns such as Blackpool are clearly struggling to reinvent themselves and throw off their old image. Further investment is going to be needed to help these towns unlock their potential.

‘Increased funding from central Government, far in excess of the levels they are currently getting, could be key to tackling local economic decline in many of these areas. Many coastal areas are in need of further investment.’