Luton has been named as one of England and Wales’ gazumping hotspots in a new study.

The town came 25th in a countdown of the areas where sellers are most likely to pull out of a deal after receiving a better offer, with a total of 12 per cent of buyers being gazumped between January 2016 and October 2018.

Researchers from TwentyCi assessed 1.08 million properties listed for sale during this period on behalf of home movers' site Move iQ and PropTech firm Gazeal.

This was below the average for England and Wales, which stands at 16 per cent - and a long way off the rate of 35 per cent seen in Sheffield.

They also found that a third (35 per cent) of property transactions fall through within the first three weeks.

TV's Phil Spencer, star of Location, Location, Location and co-founder of Move iQ, said: "For anyone who thought gazumping vanished with the runaway price rises of a few years ago, our findings will come as a reality check.

"Gazumping is alive and well, and still causing heartache for tens of thousands of buyers across England and Wales."

Phil said the problem is happening in all areas, regardless of market conditions. He added: "The real culprit is the legal blind spot in the way homes are bought and sold in England and Wales.

"A legal system that lets sellers leave buyers high and dry weeks, or even months, after accepting their offer is clearly not fit for purpose."