The number of divorce cases coming before the courts shot up last year in the biggest increase for 15 years, figures show.

Divorce petitions – the first stage in the process – rose by 8 per cent, or nearly 9,000, compared with 2017.

There were 118,141 divorce petitions put before courts last year compared with 109,353 in 2017, the Ministry of Justice figures show.

The number of divorce cases coming before the courts shot up last year in the biggest increase for 15 years (stock image)

However, the number of divorces recorded as completed by the courts last year fell below 100,000, to 98,919, for the first time since 1971.

There had been a steep decline in marriage break-ups, leading to the lowest divorce rates since the early 1970s, but the ministry warned that the increase in divorce petitions is 'potentially indicating a return to the previous trend'.

A report by the ministry said that one reason for the particularly low divorce petition figures in 2017 may have been problems at the computerised divorce centres set up to speed up the system.

The increase last year could be 'attributed to divorce centres processing a backlog of outstanding work early in 2018', the report said.

The historic increase in divorce in the early 1970s, which first pushed numbers in England and Wales above 100,000, followed legal reforms passed by Parliament in 1969.

Divorce petitions – the first stage in the process – rose by 8 per cent, or nearly 9,000, compared with 2017 (stock image)

The figures for cases coming before the courts showed numbers were at a peak of 172,357 in 2003 and have since fallen steadily.

Although there have been years in which the numbers blipped up, in no year since 2003 has the rise been greater than 2,000.

The latest figures come as Justice Secretary David Gauke prepares to release plans for reforms that would allow divorce on demand at the request of just one marriage partner and would abolish allegations of fault.

Ministers acknowledge that the reforms are likely to lead to an increase in divorce, at least in the short term. The current law allows couples to divorce without alleging fault against each other.

A divorce is granted if they wait through two years of separation if both are agreed on ending the marriage, or five years if only one wants a divorce.

But most couples choose to allege fault, in which one partner accuses the other of adultery, desertion or unreasonable behaviour. Divorce on these grounds can come much more quickly.