Young and low paid workers in tourist hotspots are increasingly being priced out of homes, new analysis has shown.

House prices rose up to three times faster in some rural and coastal areas compared to the national average in July, Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures have revealed.

North Devon has seen a rise of 22.5%, while the UK average rose by 8%.

A lack of affordable homes could be contributing to hospitality struggling to fill vacancies, the ONS said.

The average cost of rent in the south-west of England rose by 2.6% in the year leading to August, more than double the 1.2% increase for the UK as a whole.

The ONS said the growth in demand for rental properties “appears to be exceeding supply”.

It added the fall in supply of letting was most widespread in the South West, East and West Midlands.

The ONS said: “Rising house prices and private rents mean that some workers are at risk of being priced out of living in rural and coastal areas, contributing to skill shortages in the tourism and hospitality industries that their local economies rely on.”

One couple from Barnstaple say they have been looking for a new home for five months with no success.

Sarah-Jane and Lauren Tolley have three weeks to find somewhere to live after being asked to leave by their current landlady through a no-fault eviction.

Section 21 notices allow landlords to evict renters without a reason after their fixed-term tenancy period ends.

There is already good evidence of nature’s efficacy, such as a 2019 study showing that a two-hour “dose” ofnature a week significantly improved health and wellbeing. The missing link has been connecting health services and nature activities.

“These activities have being going for years, it’s just that they often have not had that connection into the health systems to enable them to receive the people who need the benefits the most, and to deliver precisely what they need,” says Dave Solly, at the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP), which was launched in 2019 with funding from the Department of Health.

But things are changing. Seven NHS care groups from the Humber to Surrey received a combined £5m in government funding in December for projects harnessing nature to improve mental health, including tree planting and growing food. There are also now more than 1,000 social prescribing link workers working in GP surgeries and health clinics, helping doctors link patients to nature activities, as well as arts, heritage and exercise groups. A million people could be referred to social prescribing in the next few years.

Among the projects championed by NASP are Wild Being in Reading, an open-water swimming group in Portsmouth, Dorset Nature Buddies, the Green Happy cafe in Northampton, and a Moving in Nature project in Chingford, Essex.

Coastal and peatland restoration, plus the creation of woodlands and new urban green spaces, offer the potential to create many thousands of new posts, Boris Johnson has been told.

And the research, carried out by consultants WPI Economics, found that potential is greatest in employment blackspots such as the red wall seats snatched by the Tories from Labour during the last general election.

At least 16,000 jobs could be created; 11,000 by developing urban green spaces and the rest in coastal restoration and woodland creation.

County Durham, West Cumbria, Wolverhampton and parts of Nottinghamshire are among areas that would be major winners, the study argues.

A wild grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) has been caught “clapping” on camera for the first time, making sounds that resemble “shotgun-like cracks”.

The large male was filmed striking its flippers together off the coast of the Farne Islands, near Northumberland, during the breeding season in 2017.

While captive seals can be seen clapping in zoos and aquariums, scientists say this is the first time one of their wild counterparts has been caught on camera performing the action.

While humans clap to applaud or express approval, in the case of wild grey seals , this gesture signifies quite the opposite.

Scientists believe male seals clap to demonstrate their strength, as part of an attempt to ward off competitors and attract potential mates. The action produces a “loud high-frequency noise”, sending out “a clear signal” to other males in the area.

In the video, the male seal can be seen swimming close to a female, with other males lurking nearby, before it starts clapping.

Dr Ben Burville, a researcher at the University of Newcastle, who took the footage, said: “The effect of the clap was instant and the rival males rapidly dispersed.

“The clap was incredibly loud and at first I found it hard to believe what I had seen.”

Coastal communities have been “blighted” by “nine years of vicious austerity and Tory cuts”, Jeremy Corbyn has said in a speech.

Speaking in Hastings, East Sussex, the Labour leader also pledged to end the “evil of in-work poverty”.

But the Conservatives say seaside areas can benefit from a £3.6bn fund.

BBC analysis this week found that workers living in costal parts of Britain earn £1,600 less on average per year than those living inland.

The research also found that two-thirds of coastal areas had seen a real-terms fall in wages since 2010.

In his speech, Mr Corbyn said poverty and inequality were “not inevitable”. 

“In the fifth-richest country in the world, no-one should be forced to rely on a food bank to feed their family, no-one should be sleeping rough on our streets, and nobody should be working for poverty wages,” he said.

Citing parliamentary research, he said one in five adults in Hastings and Rye could be in receipt of universal credit when it is fully rolled out.

Meet the young fisherman from Northumberland who is making a living from the seas.

Sophy Rose crew members Jordan Richardson and Edward Sinclaire lift more than 300 creels a day from the waters around Holy Island.

Jordan, 24, skippered his first boat aged 17 and now works full time as a fisherman.

Watch more on this story on Inside Out in the North East and Cumbria on BBC One at 19:30 on Monday 2 September or catch up after on the iPlayer.

The number of migrants picked up trying to cross the Channel in May is now higher than the figure for December, when a “major incident” was declared.

Eight men were intercepted in a small boat at about 06:20 BST, bringing the total for May so far to 140.

In December, during mild weather, 138 migrants attempted the journey and Home Secretary Sajid Javid set out a plan for dealing with the problem.

At least 642 migrants have now crossed the Channel since 3 November.

The Home Office said: “Those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.”

It added that since January “more than 30 people who arrived illegally in the UK in small boats have been returned to Europe”.

Britain has some of the worst quality bathing water in Europe, with six per cent of its beaches and other swimming spots failing to meet the minimum EU standards.

Taking a dip in “excellent quality” water is only possible at 58.2 per cent of the British bathing spots surveyed, a report released today by the European Environment Agency revealed. By contrast, all bathing sites tested in Cyprus and landlocked Luxembourg were of excellent quality.

And while overall the quality of the water at Europe’s beaches, lakes, rivers has risen, it it getting worse in in Britain, with 93.7 per cent of beaches tested by the EU meeting the mandatory water quality levels last year, down nearly four per cent on 2011.

Only Belgium and the Netherlands had more sites which failed to meet the minimum EU requirements, with the report blaming torrential rain for washing sewage into waters which citizens might want to swim in

The number of beaches failing to meet even minimum standards for water quality has risen, and the South West in particular saw a number of its previously recommended beaches fail, including Exmouth in Devon and Bude Summerleaze in Cornwall. In the North West, just three beaches are recommended for excellent water, with popular beaches at Blackpool North and South failing to meet even the basic mandatory standards.

The alarming results were revealed in the annual Marine Conservation Society (MCS) report, which assesses water quality at most UK beaches, looking for pollutants and safety hazards.

The organisation warns today that swimmers could fall ill from bathing in water polluted by an increase in harmful bacteria and viruses.

Out of 754 beaches surveyed, just 403 were awarded the top “recommended” award in 2012, 113 fewer than the previous year. Meanwhile, 42 beaches failed to meet the minimum EU levels for acceptable bathing water, 17 more than 2011’s figures published in the Good Beach Guide.

The major reduction in the number of recommended beaches stems from the effects of rain and flooding, such as agricultural and urban run-off, storm waters, plumbing misconnections, septic tanks and dog waste.

I’ve always had particular enthusiasm and empathy for coastal places – about one-third of the population living within 10 km of it. But many coastal communities face a series of challenges: they often have a high proportion of retirees, transitory populations and benefit claimants, with huge pressures placed upon public services during summer months. They also suffer because of their physical isolation and seasonal/low wage economies.

How might understanding the trajectory of costal places be harnessed to generate successful economic futures? To explore this question further, the Rural Services Network is holding an event on coasts on 4 December 2012 at The Pavilion Theatre in Bournemouth. The event will include presentations from the Coastal Communities Alliance (CCA), a network of local authorities sharing best practice, collaborating on projects/initiatives and influencing Government policy-making; and Weymouth and Portland Borough Council outlining the legacy of the 2012 sailing Olympics and Paralympics. To book your free place please email Wendy at the RSN (wendy.cooper@sparse.gov.uk)