Town named singles hotspot

There are four times the number of single women compared to men looking for love in the mid Wales market town of Llandrindod Wells.

The Powys town was named as the best place for a single man to find a partner in a UK-wide survey by British Telecom.

The BT guide to single life:

Guildford - 1.74 to one ratio of men to women

Bromley - 1.69 men to every woman

Dorchester - four women to every man

Halifax - 3.33 women to every man

Salisbury - 99% of young people in relationships

Lerwick in the Shetland Isles has the highest number of single men compared to women, while Guildford in the south east of England has an average of nearly two men to every available woman.

But in Llandrindod Wells, the survey has met with a mixed reaction.

Samantha Yeo, 17, and her friend Dylan Owen were not convinced by the survey.

"Maybe that would have true when I was younger and going out to the Pavilion in the town, when there were more single girls about," she said.

"Now they are young mums with children."

Dylan added: "If I want to find a girl, I have to go somewhere else, like Hereford, where there is more going on, because there is only a dance here once every fortnight."

I think the single men here keep themselves well hidden

Single woman, Llandrindod Wells

He added: "I do not think this is the most popular place to find a girl or a boy, there is not enough talent."

Samantha added: "From a woman's point of view, there is a shortage of decent men.

That is probably because of the way things are here; it is a Jerry Springer society of extremes."

John Leach, landlord of the Llanerch Inn, said he felt the figures were probably misleading.

A single woman who moved into the area from south Wales said she was amazed the statistic was as low as 4:1.

"I would think it is more like 10:1. I think the single men here keep themselves well hidden," she said.

The woman, who did not want to be named, admitted she went back to south Wales to find a date.

Llandrindod Wells is the county town of Powys, a sparsely populated rural county with just 116,000 inhabitants.