First time buyers will have had to borrow £20,000 more to buy a home than they did this time last year.

Property prices in the county have risen by almost 10 per cent in the last 12 months with no sign of demand falling.

New official figures produced by the Land Registry Government department show the average price of a home in the county stood at £241,582 in April compared to £220,636 the previous year - a leap of 9.5 per cent.

The figure is ahead of the national average of 9.1 per cent with April's monthly increase of 0.9 per cent outstripping the UK average of 0.6 per cent.

The typical house price in England and Wales now stands at £179,935, more than £15,000 higher than the same period a year earlier.

All regions in England and Wales continue to experience average house price increases over the last 12 months, with London leading the way at 15.6 per cent.

But statistics showed that four regions - the North East, South West, North West and Yorkshire and The Humber - saw the cost of property fall during the month.

London saw the strongest monthly performance, with houses in the capital putting on 2.3 per cent in April.

The typical cost of a house in London was recorded at £333,785.

The North East remains the cheapest part of the country for homebuyers with average property prices set at £128,687.