Travellers in the south-west of the UK face the highest prices for flying abroad, new research has shown.

Global flight search and travel deals platform Cheapflights launched the UK Compass Report last week, analysing data generated by 2.1 million hours of searches between August 2015 and July 2016.

Among the many findings, it revealed that those wanting to jet away from the West Country were the most likely to take a hit in their wallets.

For instance, anyone wanting to fly to Bangkok from the south-west pays £82 more than the £506 cost of flying from the south-east, where it is cheapest.

Similarly, flying to Berlin from the south-west costs £189 – £90 more than the south-east, while a flight to Sydney costs £174 more than a south-east departure, at £1,017.

The Midlands is the second most expensive region to fly from, followed by Scotland and the north. The south-east is the most affordable region for foreign departures.

Cheapflights managing director Andrew Shelton said: “What was most surprising was the size of the difference in price – when you apply it to a family it all adds up.

“That’s when it might be cheaper to fly from Heathrow instead of Cornwall. Even if you have to stay in an airport hotel the night before, it still might cost less.”

He added that the same applied to the actual destinations themselves, with large savings to be had on the cost of a flight, even if travelling to similar locations.

For instance, Shelton said flying to Phuket instead of Koh Samui was £150 cheaper overall at £581, while Milan at £115, was less expensive than the £147 average flight tag to Rome.

He added: “This sort of thing helps people make good destination choices. Instead of going to Seattle (£709) you could fly to Vancouver (£645) which is only 150 miles away and you can have a very similar experience but at a much cheaper price.”