It comes after the National Audit Office warned the Home Office had ‘historically underspent’ funding allocated to tackle the issue.

Kirsty Carless, 33, appeared at Stafford Crown Court on Friday and pleaded not guilty to murdering Louis Price, 31.

Leo Woodall has revealed that he prepared to play Bridget Jones’ young love interest as a Scot before the producers “changed their minds”.

Buyers across London and the South East in particular would have been pushing for deals to get across the line, an estate agent said.