New research has revealed the UK’s biggest business fraud hotspots - with York and North Yorkshire close to the top spot.

The research, by anti-fraud experts SEON, identifies the areas with the highest rates per 100,000 people.

Using data from Action Fraud, the data recorded both the total number of fraud reports in each area and the number of business or corporate fraud cases.

It then compared this to population data, giving relative rates of fraud and business fraud in each geographical area.

The City of London has the highest rate of corporate fraud per 100,000 people in the country at 100.92 cases which is not surprising ggiven the City of London's status as the centre of the UK’s financial industry - home to a huge number of businesses, while also home to a comparably small number of people.

Nottinghamshire has the second-highest rate of corporate fraud in the country, making the county a much riskier place to do business than the majority of the country.

In third place, is North Yorkshire. Researchers say this takes in several well-off small cities and market towns, such as York and Harrogate, which act as business hubs for the area and are likely the focus of fraudsters’ attention in the region.