Increasingly risky sexual behaviour has been linked to the number of cases of syphilis in Europe hitting an all-time high, with the UK seeing one of the steepest rises.

A report by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control shows that in the UK the number of cases of the sexually transmitted infection (STI) – once thought to be consigned to history – more than doubled between 2007 and 2017.

There were 3,561 cases of syphilis in the UK in 2007 but by 2017 this number had rocketed to just over 7,798. This is equivalent to an increase from 5.8 cases per 100,000 people to 11.8 cases per 100,000.

Only Iceland – with a rate of 15.4 per 100,000 – and Malta with a rate of 13.5, had higher rates than the UK.

The UK was one of five countries – alongside Iceland, Ireland, Malta and Germany – which saw the number of cases of the disease more than double over the time period