The average breast size of Lincoln ladies is reasonable – but not big enough to bust into a list of the top 10 largest cities in the UK.

An up-front new survey by Debenhams department store has ranked Lincoln as the 11th city out of 17 in need of the largest bras.

The national poll was carried out with the help of staff at Lincoln's Debenhams store.

It revealed the average bra size in Lincoln is 32C – the number refers to the inches in circumference under the bust, while the letter is the cup size.

Liverpool had the chestiest ladies, with women needing an average cup size of 34E, closely followed by Newcastle with a 34DD. The smallest breasts were recorded in Birmingham, which came in at 34A.

Claire Tucker, support manager at the St Mark Street store, said: "On behalf of all the girls here in Lincoln, we are very pleased and even proud that Lincoln was 11th on the list.

"With our dedicated in-store bra-fitting team, you can be sure of getting the right bra for you, whatever your size."

The rankings were created using the records of bras sold between April and October.

The reasons for the regional diversity of bust sizes has been attributed to body weight, age, the popularity of breast enhancement surgery in certain cities, pregnancy or hormones in the contraceptive pill.

The survey was carried out to coincide with Debenhams' Bra Fit campaign, which runs from now until Sunday, October 25.

For a list of the top 10 cities for largest breast size, see Tuesday's Echo.