Solicitors in Keighley are gearing up for a "mad rush" of people seeking divorce following the stress and strains of the festive holiday.

Caroline Makin, a partner in Makin Dixon solicitors, in Cooke Street, Keighley, said it usually experienced a rise in domestic violence cases and issues concerning children after Christmas.

She said: "The increase is more than slight, you tend to find that many families try to hold their relationship together for their children in the build up to Christmas and then it tends to fall apart as it comes to the New Year."

Ms Makin said that other factors which put a strain on relationships also had an effect, such as interest rate increases, rises in house prices and banks clamping down quicker on people who miss mortgage repayments.

Juliet Dehghan, specialist in family law for Burr Sugden, in Devonshire Street, Keighley, said: "Many parents and families find it hard to cope throughout the year and Christmas just adds to the pressure already there, whether it is financial or emotional."

She added: "Extra tension and stress at holiday time can lead to a breaking point whereupon one party will decide that divorce is the preferable solution."

But Jane Brigg, a partner at Turner & Wall, in Arcade Chambers, in North Street, said that not everyone who sought a divorce in January actually went through with it.

She said: "There is an increase after any major holiday like Christmas but it is important to note that they don't always go through."

Nick Shillito, from Relate, an organisation which provides counselling for people struggling in their relationships, said it also saw an increase in people seeking advice after Christmas.

He said: "At Christmas the cultural expectation is that everyone is happy and Christmas in our culture now is all about happy couples getting together, so if you are not happy then you become even more aware of it at this time of year.

"But Christmas is probably worse for people who live on their own."