Adultery, it seems, is booming in Southend with a 10 per cent increase in the last year - making it the cheating capital of Essex.

A new cheating map reveals 1,463 people in the seaside town are having an affair - up from 1,333 last year, all despite the Covid crisis.

The figures are from Illicitencounters.com, the UK’s leading affairs dating website.

IllicitEncounters.com spokeswoman Jessica Leoni said: “We have seen a big rise in cheating over the last year in Southend and throughout Essex, even in the last six months covered by Covid.

“This is due to lockdown cabin fever - increasing numbers of people have become fed-up with their partners after being stuck together at home for most of this year and even denied a summer holiday in many cases.

“The Covid fear factor largely went at the start of the summer when the pubs reopened and people realised that the virus was only a big health threat if you are elderly or in a high risk group.

“People started dating again and cheating numbers surged as lots of new relationships were forged.”

The figures are based on IllicitEncounters’ own extensive data on the numbers of Britons cheating.

Across Essex, the figures show:

  • Basildon (up to 766 cheats from 672 last year)
  • Harlow (up to 745 cheats from 689 last year)
  • Braintree (up to 734 cheats from 662 last year)
  • Grays (up to 610 from 552 last year)
  • Billericay (down to 499 cheats from 554 last year)
  • Romford (up to 296 cheats from 264 last year)

The interactive Infidelity Index allows users to search a city, town or postcode to discover how many people are having affairs in any locality.