An accountant jailed for siphoning almost a quarter of a million pounds from a Medway car dealership helped the south east become the nation's fraud capital in 2010.

The 38-year-old wrote out a number of cheques from the company account which he then paid into his own bank accounts. He also used the company account to pay off his credit card bills. He stole £245,627 from the company between May 2004 and April 2009.

According to the latest KPMG Fraud Barometer, the south east was the worst hit in 2010 and is now the UK's fraud hotspot.

The region recorded 143 cases - a staggering 80 per cent by value of all cases - in 2010, up from 107 the previous year and the highest figure since the barometer was founded 23 years ago.

One of the largest cases was worth £103m, in which a 48-year-old man made fraudulent bids for tax breaks on research into green technologies.

Hitesh Patel, KPMG forensic partner, said: "Over 45 per cent of the number of cases that reached court last year were heard in courts in London and the South East and accounted for 80 per cent of all UK fraud that took place in the UK last year by value

"With the average fraud in London and the South East in 2010 worth over £7.5 million, the fraudsters are becoming increasingly sophisticated, focussing on the big institutions where a successful hit can see them walking away with large amounts of cash."

As austerity measures begin to bite, with rising taxes and unemployment, the public sector is more vulnerable than ever to fraudsters. It was affected by 42 per cent of all cases nationwide, costing the taxpayer £571m, a fifth higher than the previous year.

"The greater concentration of population in the South East means a larger number of opportunists and organised fraudsters targeting social welfare budgets," Mr Patel added.