Colchester has been listed as one of the most romantic places in the UK, latest research shows.

The study carried out by the Royal Mail revealed the top 20 'romantic hotspots' in Britain.

Colchester has made it on to the list, but not thanks to its history or cultural highlights.

Instead it made the list due to the high number of love-related street and house names.

There are a starry-eyed total of 153 love inspired street or house names in the borough making it eighth on the list.

There are more than 24,000 UK streets and houses sporting a romance-related name, according to the new research.

Love is popular among the nation's addresses and has inspired one in 10 British house names.

For instance, there are more than 8,000 'Rose Cottage' addresses spanning the country.

There are nearly 200 houses named ‘The Heart’ in the UK and more than 150 ‘Love Lane’ addresses.

Steve Rooney, Head of Royal Mail’s Address Management Unit, said: “Delivering mail to over 31 million addresses, six days a week, gives us an unparalleled view of the nation’s street and house names, and sometimes the results are fascinating."

The full list of the nation’s ‘romantic hotspots’ (towns and cities with the highest number of love-related street and house names) are:

1. London (725)

2. Bristol (330)

3. York (302)

4. Norwich (299)

5. Salford (178)

6. Doncaster (166)

7. Romford (158)

8. Colchester (153)

9. Hereford (151)

10. Solihull (147)

11. Southampton (138)

12. Stoke-On-Trent (133)

13. King’s Lynn (130)

14. Birmingham (129)

15. Telford (119)

16. Cheltenham (118)

17. Ashbourne, Derbyshire (114)

17. Coventry (114)

18. Peacehaven, East Sussex (109)

19. Stroud (106)

20. Maidstone, Kent (105)