Image copyright PA Image caption The average house price in Sandbanks, Dorset, is £664,655

The UK's most expensive seaside town is Sandbanks in Dorset, with the average house price there nearly £665,000, a report has revealed.

Salcombe in Devon, where the average home is worth £539,950, came second, Halifax's Seaside Town Review found.

Eight of the top 10 most expensive seaside towns were in south-west England.

The least expensive was Scotland's Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute, where the average house price is £77,132.

North Berwick has become Scotland's most expensive seaside town, according to a Bank of Scotland report, which says the average house price there is £327,124.

Halifax used house price figures from the Land Registry and the Registers of Scotland for the report, covering 196 seaside towns across Britain.

Padstow, Dartmouth, Fowey, St Mawes and Wadebridge in south-west England were all on the list of seaside towns with the highest property values.

Scotland dominated the list of least expensive seaside towns. The list included Port Bannatyne, Girvan, Campbeltown, Stranraer, Invergordon and Rothesay.

About eight properties could be bought in Port Bannatyne for the price of an average home in Sandbanks.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Padstow in Cornwall had an average property price of £443,396, Halifax found

Halifax also found that house prices have increased by £440 a month on average in Britain's seaside towns over the last decade.

'Highly popular'

The average property price in the UK's seaside towns has increased by 32% from £166,565 in 2006 to £219,386 in 2016.

Martin Ellis, a housing economist at Halifax, said:" Seaside towns are highly popular places to live, offering sought-after scenery, weather and lifestyle which no doubt come at a price.

"They also attract those looking for holiday properties, which add upward pressure on house prices."

The 10 most expensive seaside towns in Britain, according to Halifax:

Sandbanks, Dorset, £664,655

Salcombe, Devon, £539,950

Padstow, Cornwall, £443,396

Aldeburgh, Suffolk, £439,379

Lymington, Hampshire, £426,112

Dartmouth, Devon, £401,361

Fowey, Cornwall, £379,003

St Mawes, Cornwall, £373,746

Wadebridge, Cornwall, £373,351

Budleigh Salterton, Devon, £360,984

The 10 least expensive seaside towns in Britain, according to Halifax: