A total of 132 care facilities in England are currently ranked Inadequate, with 2,418 judged to Require improvement by the Care Quality Commission, the Mail Online has reported.

There is significant regional variation according to the report, with 40% of homes being given one of the two bottom rankings in Liverpool, Halton in Cheshire and Camden in London,

Care England’s chief executive Professor Martin Green criticised the “postcode lottery” blaming “poor local authority commissioning and low fee rates”.

Four London boroughs: Islington, Kensington and Chelsea, Wandsworth and Westminster with a total of 61 providers, were all rated either Good or Outstanding.