A TOWN in the heart of Scotland's oil boom country has topped a league table showing the biggest house price increases among the UK's seaside settlements during the past decade.

Property prices in Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire have almost doubled since 2007 from an average of £70,255 to £136,889 this year.

The surge in the cost of a home has been put down to the wealth which flowed into the area before the downturn in the oil industry.

The effect of the oil boom on property prices was also found in other areas. Fraserburgh, home to around 13,000 people and the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses, was followed in the list by Lerwick in Shetland - where prices have risen from £90,000 a decade ago to £160,689 today, according to an annual study by Halifax.

During the last 10 years, the average house price in Britain's seaside towns has increased by 25 per cent, from £181,060 in 2007 to £226,916 in 2017 - equating to an average increase of £382 per month.

Second home buyers are often blamed for helping to push up house prices in many popular seaside towns, making it harder for people who grew up in these locations to get on the housing ladder. In April 2016, a stamp duty hike was imposed on second home buyers.

There is a marked north-south divide in property values in seaside towns, Halifax said, with southern England dominating the list of the most expensive seaside towns.

Sandbanks in Dorset was identified as Britain's most expensive seaside town for the second year in a row.

But, outside southern England, the most expensive seaside areas are the Scottish locations of North Berwick, where a typical home is worth £314,435 and St Andrews, where a property is valued at around £300,319. Mumbles in South Wales is also among the most expensive seaside towns outside southern England, with an average house price of £284,804.

Home buyers wanting to be beside the seaside may want to consider focusing their search on Scotland, which has nine out of the 10 least expensive coastal towns.

Port Bannatyne on the Isle of Bute is the least expensive seaside location in the survey, with an average price there of £71,550.

Based on average house prices, a buyer could snap up nine homes in Port Bannatyne for the price of one property in Sandbanks,

Newbiggin by the Sea in Northumberland follows Port Bannatyne and is the least expensive seaside town in England with an average house price of £75,779.

All the locations on the list of the 10 least expensive seaside towns have average house prices below £100,000.

Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said: "Seaside towns are extremely popular places to live, offering sought-after views and desirable weather. Being by the seaside does come at a price - with the marked increase in house prices reflecting the demand for rooms with a 'sea' view.

"Over the past decade, house prices in the South East, especially coastal towns within commutable distance to London, have shown strong growth and have become Britain's most expensive seaside towns.

"However, the strongest-performing coastal towns in terms of growth have been north of the border in Scotland, where property prices on the Aberdeenshire coastline have been helped by the oil industry more than the sunshine."