Brighton and Hove has been named by a property website as the gazumping capital of Britain.

According to eMove.co.uk almost one in three homebuyers in the city claim they were gazumped at some stage during the process.

On average across the UK a fifth of the nation (22%) have experienced the turmoil of being gazumped. A stomach churning case of so near yet so far, it can leave prospective buyers out of pocket and back to square one in the buying process.

Popular property hotspot Brighton topped the pole with 34.9% of people having been previously gazumped when buying a property, a figure that is higher than that of London.

Although gazumping is not a new concept it has become a more regular occurrence across the country. The research also found that the higher the price of the property, the more likely you are to be gazumped.

Of those that had been previously gazumped 27% were over properties of £500,000 or above. This dropped to 25% for properties valued between £200,000 and £500,000 and a further 6% for properties under £200,000.