Singletons looking for a date should head to the county's love mecca - Hove.

It has 50 per cent more young single people than the national average and is the fourth best place in the UK to pull, making it Sussex's top dating location, according to a survey.

Chichester is not so likely to set hearts racing. It came ninth from the bottom in a survey of 275 postal districts.

Worthing fared little better, only winning a place in the bottom 50.

Both were beaten by Eastbourne, named 229th on the list in the Pulling Power Index survey of single 18 to 24-year-olds by the British Gas web site www.house.co.uk.

Loveseekers are advised to give Crawley a wide berth, along with Hastings and Haywards Heath.

Brighton was halfway down the list with the same number of singles as the national average.

Nationally, the best chance of finding a date is in Salford, Greater Manchester, where the number of young singles is double the UK average.

The worst place is Solihull in the West Midlands.

Meanwhile, new research has revealed people like living alone.

A study of men and women, conducted by Britannia Building Society, found seven out of ten 20 to 30-year-olds in Brighton who live alone want to keep it that way.

One in six said they will never tie the knot. More than a third said the only reason they would even consider living with their partner would be to have help with housework.

When asked whom they most admired, one in five people from Brighton said Kylie Minogue (22 per cent), with Frank Skinner coming second (17 per cent).

Co-habiting counterparts such as Catherine Zeta Jones, Ant and Dec, DJ Sara Cox and David Beckham did not score.

The study also showed most people in the age group in Brighton (61 per cent) agree couples should split basic household costs like food.