HUNDREDS of people have been having affairs on their partners across Harwich and Manningtree, a new cheating map reveals.

A new cheating map reveals 377 people in Harwich are having an affair - up from 355 last year, all despite the Covid crisis.

The figures are from Illicitencounters.com, the UK’s leading affairs dating website.

In Manningtree, it was 226 are having an affair, up from 206 last year. 

It shows in Clacton 581 people are having an affair, up from 531 the year before.

Elsewhere in Essex there were 734 people having an affair in Braintree, 596 in Maldon, 437 in Witham and 391 in Halstead.

The main reason for the rise is ‘lockdown cabin fever’ with people unhappy with their partner seeking an affair after becoming fed-up being stuck at home.

IllicitEncounters.com spokeswoman Jessica Leoni said: “We have seen a big rise in cheating over the last year in Wrexham, even in the last six months covered by Covid.

“This is due to lockdown cabin fever - increasing numbers of people have become fed-up with their partners after being stuck together at home for most of this year and even denied a summer holiday in many cases.

“The Covid fear factor largely went at the start of the summer when the pubs reopened and people realised that the virus was only a big health threat if you are elderly or in a high risk group.

“People started dating again and cheating numbers surged as lots of new relationships were forged.”

Adultery, it seems, is booming in Southend with a 10 per cent increase in the last year - making it the cheating capital of Essex.

A new cheating map reveals 1,463 people in the seaside town are having an affair - up from 1,333 last year, all despite the Covid crisis.

Across Essex, the figures show:

Basildon (up to 766 cheats from 672 last year)

Harlow (up to 745 cheats from 689 last year)

Braintree (up to 734 cheats from 662 last year)

Grays (up to 610 from 552 last year)

Billericay (down to 499 cheats from 554 last year)

Romford (up to 296 cheats from 264 last year)

The interactive Infidelity Index allows users to search a city, town or postcode to discover how many people are having affairs in any locality.