DATA published by the Office for National Statistics shows a total of over 1,000 unoccupied dwellings across the Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge areas.

The data focuses on four regions of West Somerset, all of which had over 100 empty homes when the data was recorded from the 2021 census.

At the time of recording, there were 1,015 properties without an occupant across Burnham-on-Sea, Highbridge, Berrow, Brent Knoll, Wedmore, and Mark.

320 empty properties in the Berrow & Brent Knoll area places it at the top of the list, with a total of 6.3% of the 5,105 dwellings in the region without an occupant.

Following closely in second place was the Burnham-on-Sea area itself, in which 315 homes did not have an occupant - a shocking 7.7% of all its dwellings.

In third place was Highbridge, with 235 properties unoccupied during the census, with 5.6% of all its homes empty.

The Wedmore & Mark area had the lowest amount of empty dwellings, with 145 of its 3,010 unoccupied at the time of recording - equating to 4.8%.

This data shows Burnham-on-Sea has the highest percentage of empty houses in all of Sedgemoor, comprehensively beating the second-worst Cannington, Combwich & Nether Stowey area's percentage of 6.8%.