The research by the House of Commons Library, commissioned by the Liberal Democrats, shows that in September 2016 there were 12,204 pharmacies in England and Wales - that figure has now fallen to 11,184, a loss of 1,020, equating to a fall of 8%.

Some areas have been decimated by the loss of pharmacies, leading to a stark postcode lottery. Five constituencies now have less than 10 pharmacies caring for patients across the entire area, while others have close to 70.

The data reveals that 440 constituencies in England and Wales - more than three-quarters of the total - have seen a decline in the number of pharmacies since 2016, with just 65 (11%) experiencing an increase.

Feltham and Heston, Bristol East and Newbury lost a third of their pharmacies in less than a decade, the highest rate of pharmacy losses in the country. The areas with the highest number of pharmacies lost were the Cities of London and Westminster (-22), Birmingham Ladywood (-11) and Blackburn (-10). One of the seats in Kingston-upon-Hull (-8).

The Liberal Democrats has called on the Government to overhaul the 'broken business rates system' to ensure that pharmacy finances could be put on a 'sustainable footing' to prevent a future surge in closures.

Liberal Democrat Health and Social Care spokesperson, Helen Morgan, said: ‘As these pharmacy deserts become normalised, we risk putting hospitals already on the brink under even more pressure, adding to the misery so many patients have had to suffer unnecessarily.

‘The Conservatives shameful neglect brought us to this point but the Labour government's decision to hammer pharmacies once again with their damaging jobs tax risks making the situation so much worse.

‘With so many pharmacies already having gone to the wall and with many more at risk of closure, the Government needs to change course. That means exempting pharmacies from their misguided jobs tax to prevent any future surge in closures.'