But it added victims are also being targeted in more affluent towns near the UK's major cities - typically younger couples living in new homes, with average incomes and a high demand for credit.

Other identity fraud hotspots include Birmingham, Manchester, Stretford in Manchester, St Albans in Hertfordshire, Sutton Coldfield in Birmingham and Slough.

Within London, identity fraud was also prevalent in Romford, Bexleyheath, Woolwich, Cheapside, Stratford, Ilford, Walthamstow, Lewisham, Enfield.

Nick Mothershaw, UK and Ireland director of identity and fraud at Experian, said: "It comes as no surprise that the capital remains a target for third-party fraudsters - particularly around densely populated inner-city boroughs where identities are easier to steal.

"However, fraudsters are clearly attracted to rich pickings in more affluent areas, where access to an identity might be harder to obtain but the prize makes it worth the extra effort.

"Clearly, identity theft is not just confined to inner-city areas but is a UK-wide problem and a symptom of tougher economic times, highlighting the need for people everywhere to be increasingly vigilant."

In some cases this could mean their children would be in secondary school before they own a home.

Couples without a child face an average of six and a half years of saving, and almost double that time in London (11 years). Single people face the greatest barriers to home ownership.

A single person could need more than 14 years to save enough for a deposit unless they can find a partner, trapping many in uncertain private renting or forcing them to live with their parents well into adulthood.

The report also reveals dramatic regional variations in the time it takes first-time buyers to save in different parts of the country.

In nearly two thirds of areas in England (60%), couples with a child could face over a decade of saving for a deposit for a home of their own. London is badly affected - with single people facing an average of 30 years of saving, while couples with children face 21 years.

Housing minister Mark Prisk said: "In fact, the evidence shows that affordability has improved under this Government, with housing at its most affordable since 2003 and the higher number of first-time buyers since 2007. We are building 170,000 new affordable homes across England, and have introduced a package of measures to help people move on to and up the housing ladder."

It came as Number 10 tax adviser Paul Collier warned that African countries are losing twice as much in avoided tax as they are getting in aid from the West, and said company directors had a "duty" to ensure their firms paid their share of tax.

Speaking at a press conference at the conclusion of the summit, Mr Cameron said that the agreement "has the potential to rewrite the rules on tax and transparency for the benefit of countries right across the world, including the poorest countries in the world".

New mechanisms to ensure that multinational companies pay taxes in the countries where they earn their profits will allow the authorities to "track and expose those who aren't paying their fair share" and ensure that "we get proper tax payment and proper tax justice in our world", he said.

But the 10-point document, released after two days of talks at Lough Erne, falls short of the demands of anti-poverty campaigners, who want the developing world included in the new arrangements from the start and have called for tax information to be made available to all on public registers.

The declaration says only that developing countries "should have the information and capacity to collect the taxes owed them", rather than guaranteeing them automatic access to the information.

And it states that "tax collectors and law enforcers" should have access to information about the ultimate owners of companies, leaving it to individual G8 countries to decide whether to make the information public as campaigners are demanding.

Her appointment comes just days after deputy governor Paul Tucker announced he is quitting the Bank in the autumn after losing out on the top job to Mr Carney, a Canadian.

Ms Hogg is currently head of retail distribution and intermediaries at Santander UK, overseeing a network of almost 1,200 branches.

She started her career at the Bank of England as a graduate in 1992, and other previous roles include UK managing director of credit checking group Experian and senior posts at McKinsey and Morgan Stanley.

Her father, Viscount Hailsham, was a member of the Margaret Thatcher and John Major governments, but stood down as an MP in 2010 after reportedly claiming expenses to clean his moat.

Ms Hogg's mother Sarah, or Viscountess Hailsham, is the former economics editor of The Independent newspaper.

Her role will have the same status and pay - about £260,000 a year - as the Bank's two deputy governors.

AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot said: "Cambridge competes on the global stage as a respected innovation hub for life sciences and our choice of site puts us at the heart of this important ecosystem, providing valuable collaboration opportunities.

"Moving to the Cambridge Biomedical Campus means our people will be able to rub shoulders with some of the world's best scientists and clinicians carrying out some of the world's leading research - that's a really exciting prospect.

"Today's announcement also confirms AstraZeneca's long-standing commitment to the UK and increases the chances that the next generation of medicines will be discovered here in Britain."

AstraZeneca announced plans for the new R&D site in March, but did not confirm the exact location until Tuesday.

The company has also announced plans to cease R&D at Alderley Park in Cheshire, with about 1,600 roles moving from the site over the next three years. Combined with the closure of its London headquarters, the group expects to cut about 700 UK jobs by 2016.

AstraZeneca's biologics arm MedImmune already employs about 500 staff in Cambridge.

Mr Cameron said the agreement between the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, Canada, Japan and Russia amounted to a "road map" for Syria's future.

He also argued that pledges on tax avoidance and evasion had the potential to "rewrite the rules". The statement promised to "fight the scourge of tax evasion" by ensuring automatic exchange of tax information, making clear who owns companies and where they generate profits.

To tackle corruption linked to the trade in resources like oil, gas and minerals in the developing world, extractive industries and governments should publish details of what money changes hands, the agreement said.

Development charities and anti-poverty campaigners welcomed the action to open up tax havens and enforce openness on extractive industry contracts, but said the 10-point document did not go far enough for poor countries to reap the full benefits.

They pointed out that the declaration only said developing countries "should have the information and capacity to collect the taxes owed them", rather than guaranteeing them automatic access to the information. It states that "tax collectors and law enforcers" should have access to information about the ultimate owners of companies, leaving it to individual G8 countries to decide whether to make the information public as campaigners are demanding.

The White House said it would leave the decision to individual US states, while Chancellor George Osborne said the UK was open to the idea of public registers and is consulting on the issue. Meanwhile, Germany and Russia refused to join the other G8 nations in agreeing to publish their own action plans to ensure openness on so-called "beneficial ownership".

It also has the option to buy a further 100 Airbus planes as part of the deal.

But the scale of the fleet acquisition means easyJet must get shareholder approval, with the backing of 50% of investors required, and is likely to reignite the long-running row with founder and largest shareholder Sir Stelios Haji-Iaonnou.

Sir Stelios, who with his family controls a near-37% stake in easyJet, has been a vocal opponent of the group's plans to increase its fleet. He said earlier this year that he believes the new planes are not necessary and will be acquired at the detriment of shareholders.

Luton-based easyJet has ordered 35 current generation A320 planes for delivery between 2015 and 2017 and 100 new generation A320neo aircraft from 2017 until 2022. It said it secured a steep discount for the planes, but did not disclose the cost of the deal.

Carolyn McCall, chief executive of easyJet, said: "This is a great outcome for easyJet, our shareholders and our passengers, and will ensure that easyJet is able to continue its successful strategy of delivering profitable growth and returns to shareholders."

EasyJet said the new aircraft would allow it to fulfil aims to increase its seat capacity by between 3% and 5% a year, while slashing costs per seat by between 11% and 12%. It said if the deal did not go through, costs per seat would be around £2.98 higher in 10 years' time, which it claims would have a "material" impact on profits.

Sir Win and Lloyds chief executive Antonio Horta-Osorio revealed they discovered a capital shortfall at the Co-op in December 2012 and were "sceptical" it could be plugged in time for the branch sale to complete as scheduled in March. But they said they decided to give the Co-op more time, given its assurances the deal could still be done.

MPs on the Treasury Select Committee grilled the Lloyds chiefs amid concerns of political interference over the decision to choose the Co-op over rival bidders, investment group NBNK and Sun Capital.

Lord Levene, who chaired the NBNK bid, claimed in a written statement there had been "significant political involvement leading up to the original decision" in favour of a bid from a mutual. He added he was advised the decision was "based on an indication from senior politicians within the Coalition that the Co-op deal was to be the preferred and definitive solution".

Mr Horta-Osorio said the Government had only indicated its preference for the mutual model after it had announced its decision to sell the 632 branches to the Co-op.

Sir Win told MPs the only factors considered by the board in the bidding process were the financial aspects of the deal and the ability to execute.

The Lloyds bosses revealed the Co-op's offer was higher than NBNK's £630 million bid. Lloyds, which has to divest the branches as an EU condition of state aid, will instead float the branches on the stock market under the TSB Bank brand following the Co-op bid's collapse.

"We have had four years of green rhetoric from the coalition Government. The time has now come for fewer words and a lot more action."

The report was published on the eve of a meeting at the EU, where member states will agree a position for final negotiations on car CO2 emissions.

He said high streets are under threat from online retailers, and the Portas review is "papering over the cracks" rather than attacking the "real issue" - that there are not enough people in town centres for communities to be vibrant in the future.

He added: "The whole argument that we'll be coming up with is that we need to see town centre commissions - not town teams as has been set up - that are properly constructed, that capture the imagination of the Big Community that David Cameron spoke about, that actually harnesses it into a proper process which encompasses the whole planning system which will deal with housing, education, leisure and some shops in a thriving town centre, which will be unique and different in every part of the country."

A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) said: "We welcome any contribution to the debate and new ideas that anyone wants to suggest. It is clear that our high streets will need to adapt to prosper.

"That's why the Government has worked hard over the past year to help high streets thrive - simplifying planning restrictions to get empty and redundant buildings in town centres back into use, cutting business rates for small businesses and scrapping Whitehall guidance that pushed for higher parking charges.

"We have also supported communities to develop projects to renovate their town centres. Pilots up and down the country are already showing what is possible, from Braintree developing parking initiatives, to Market Rasen backing an award-winning local market.

"But this is just the start and why we are bringing together experts from across the industry to sit on our Future High Streets Forum to help tackle the biggest challenges our town centres face."

Air fares leapt 22% from April - the highest rate of increase for this time of year since records began in 2001. Prices rose across European, long-haul and domestic flights, the ONS said, adding there was no clear link to the early timing of the Easter holidays. Overall transport prices rose by 0.4% between April and May, the ONS added, as price falls for petrol and diesel slowed to 2.2% month-on-month, compared with a 3.1% fall a year earlier.

The price of clothing and footwear also rose 1.2% month on month, as the cost of women's outdoor clothing increased during a colder-than-normal month. There were also price rises for furniture, carpets and garden tools. But food and drink prices helped hold back inflation, with price falls for meat, vegetables, fruit, sugar, sweets and jams.

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: "With earnings growth stagnant, the rise in inflation will put pressure on businesses and consumers." Neil Prothero, analyst at The Economist Intelligence Unit, added the protracted decline in average real wages, now in its fifth consecutive year, will "persist for some time to come".

But despite May's inflation rebound, economists believe future price rises will be more restrained than originally feared, giving the Bank greater scope to resume pumping money into the economy. The Bank now expects inflation to hit a summer peak of about 3%, down from earlier fears of a 3.5% peak, held back by weaker commodity prices.

Vicky Redwood, economist at Capital Economics, said that while higher than expected, inflation's peak is "hopefully not too far away now". She said: "Inflation will probably get above 3% in the next month or two - meaning that one of [new Bank governor Mark] Carney's first jobs will be to write an explanatory letter to the Chancellor."

The figures come ahead of minutes due this week from the Bank's June interest rates meeting - the last meeting for outgoing governor Sir Mervyn King - which will reveal the level of support for more economic stimulus. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee voted to hold its quantitative easing (QE) programme steady at £375 billion this month, also keeping rates at 0.5%, amid signs of improvement in the economy. The Bank is expected to hold off more QE until the arrival of Mr Carney next month.