Lesbian couples are more than twice as likely to divorce as gay men, Government data on England and Wales suggests. It confirms a similar finding in Scandinavia.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published annual research on Tuesday that showed there were 822 same-sex splits in 2019.

589, or 72 per cent, took place between women while there were 233 between men.

Alison Fernandes, a partner with Hall Brown Family Law, said same-sex divorces involving women tend to happen “at a slightly younger age than for gay men or heterosexual men and women”.