It is a place best known as the inspiration for a host of Philip Larkin poems, its industrial heritage and unique cream telephone boxes. But today Hull is awarded a new title — the country’s insolvency capital.

Last year the northern city had the highest rate of personal insolvencies, at 26.6 bankruptcies per 10,000 adults, according to research from Wilkins Kennedy, the accountant. It was one of several coastal and seaside towns uncovered as the places where people were most likely to declare themselves bust. Plymouth registered 26 personal insolvencies per 10,000 adults, Poole, in Dorset, 22.4 and Bournemouth, its neighbour, 22.1.

Overall, the average rate of personal insolvencies in coastal towns was almost one third higher last year than the national average at 20.6 per 10,000 adults, compared with 15.7 across the country. Coastal cities accounted for seven of the ten towns and cities with the highest bankruptcy rates in the UK.

Among the UK’s 50 largest towns and cities, Cardiff is the only coastal city with a personal insolvency rate lower than the UK national average.

Keith Stevens, a partner at Wilkins Kennedy, said: “The impact of the decline of the UK’s coastal economies is still being felt now. The higher bankruptcy rates and unemployment rates, at least half a per cent higher than the rest of the UK, shows these towns and cities still have not caught up with the rest of the UK.”

The trend was partly, he said, the result of highly educated people relocating to more prosperous areas after a downturn in their own areas. “The ones who stay are those at the lower end of the income ladder, and, obviously . . . [those] with the higher risk of getting into financial trouble.”

The concentration of pensioners in coastal towns could also explain the higher level of bankruptcies, he said.Previous surveys have found that the number of retired bankrupts jumped by 164 per cent in the past five years as people retired with ever more debt.

Explore Economics

• Pre-Budget Report 2009

• Budget 2009

• World Economic Forum

• The Times MPC

Times Recommends

• Lies and cover-up at MG Rover exposed by report
• High oil prices push manufacturing costs up
• Primark founder steps down as chief executive