Anna Wise

Seaside towns across Merseyside and Wales have emerged as the UK's fastest-growing property hotspots, defying a broader national slowdown in house price increases , new analysis reveals.

Seaside locations are defying the dip and outpacing the nationwide market.

UK’s fastest-growing property hotspots revealed by Rightmove

Across the UK, there were 101,030 residential transactions in April, according to figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

Homebuyers can pick up a house for £120k in one seaside town

Royal Mail has pledged to meet new delivery targets by May next year as part of a £500 million investment plan.

Despite the considerable annual spike, April's figure was 3% lower than the previous month

The aim of the world's biggest tobacco firms of being a “smokeless” business amid tougher rules and changing opinions to smoking is in “sharp focus”, experts say.

The issues facing the industry will come to the fore when the tobacco giant publishes its half year financial results on Tuesday.

Anna Wise 2 min read UK house sales soared by 53 per cent last month compared with the previous year, new estimates reveal, though experts have cautioned that stamp duty changes are "distorting" the market.