New research has revealed the UK's toughest places to find construction work.

The figures, published by business insurance website www.constructaquote.com, show 15% of workers in North East England are struggling to find regular work.

In Wales, 13% of workers also reported finding it difficult to gain reliable work.

The survey polled over 3,500 UK based workers across a range of industry sectors such as electricians and bricklayers.

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Each participant described themselves as a primarily freelance worker.

Of those struggling to find work, the most commonly affected trades were electricians (16%), bricklayers (11%) and builders (8%).

When participants were asked to reveal the reasons why work was so difficult to find, the two most common responses were:

• People don’t have the disposable income to afford my services (39%)

• There is too much competition for my services in my local area (32%)

Lyndon Wood, CEO of the business insurance website, said: "Sometimes it is all too easy to describe one industry using the umbrella term of the UK.

"The truth is, whilst construction might be booming in one region of the country, it could be struggling in another part. This is evident from our findings when comparing the regional results in the North-East to the South-West."

(LM/MH)