It's small but perfectly formed and now it seems it's also a hotbed of dating.

West Malling had a population of 2,266 in the last census, but online dating company Match.com has revealed it as a surprise hotspot - with more "active daters" per 1,000 population than anywhere else in the UK.

The firm analysed its database of singletons to find out which areas of the country have the highest number of active singles in proportion to their population.

Managing director Karl Gregory said: "Although big cities have more singles in total, their greater populations mean that they are not as concentrated as in these smaller hotspots."

According to the company, it has more than eight times as many daters per 1,000 population than London.

Next comes Northallerton in Yorkshire and Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire.

Mr Gregory said: "Some are more easily explained than others. But places such as West Malling and Northallerton are a bit more of a mystery."

One reason may be that areas such as neighbouring Kings Hill, which had a population of 7,770 in the last census, often has West Malling in its postal address.

The town’s buzzing nightlife is well known in the area and was also featured earlier this month as the location for a first date by Channel 4’s The Undateables programme.

Car enthusiast Alex, who has autism, took his 20-year-old date Eloise, who has Aspergers, to Swan Street Cafe in the town’s Swan Street. It was the first date he had been on and was filmed back in September.

Cafe owner Charlotte Marchant-Slattery said: “It is not a big place, but there is a very active social scene.

“We see it from the daytime point of view. We see a lot of first dates here – even during the week. West Malling isn’t a massive place but it’s got lots going on and is quite compact and concentrated in a small area. As a married person, I don’t know about the dating scene, but I did meet my husband here!”