AS VALENTINE'S Day passes young singles looking to meet a new man in Reading could find themselves lucky in love, with figures showing men in their 20s outnumber women by 100.

And Reading is not alone in having more young male twenty-somethings, with data showing there are almost 200,000 more than their female counterparts across England.

But a relationship expert at dating website eharmony says the growth of online dating means local gender gaps are becoming a problem of the past.

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Office for National Statistics (ONS) population predictions for 2020 estimate there are 14,400 men aged 20-29 in Reading – compared to 14,300 women.

It means that for every 100 women in their 20s, there are 101 men.

Across England, the ONS estimates there are 3.7 million twenty-something men, and just 3.5 million women.

The figures also show that the highest male-to-female rate in the country was in Richmondshire, North Yorkshire, where there are more than twice as many men as women in the age bracket.

Outside of the City of London – where data is skewed by a low residential population – the London borough of Wandsworth is where young women most dominate, with 136 to every 100 men.

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Of the 360 local authorities in the country, there are just 48 where women outnumber men – with London taking seven of the top 10 spots.

In Reading, men in their 30s still outnumber women by 13,900 to 12,400.

For those a decade older, the trend continues with 11,500 men and 10,800 women.

Women tend to overtake men as they get older, with 800 of them in Reading aged 90-plus and 400 men.