Dudley revealed as Black Country's divorce hotspot

At Dudley County Court, 982 people filed for divorce in the year up to September 2012.

The second highest number of petitions received was in Walsall, with 754.

Stafford Combined Court Centre, which covers a large part of the county, received 697 applications while Wolverhampton's Combined Court Centre had 653 over the same period.

Across the country, Birmingham topped the whole list of figures compiled by the Ministry of Justice, with 2,799 petitions in the same year.

The numbers have been released under a Government drive to encourage couples who wish to separate to make use of publicly-funded mediation services instead of ending up in courtroom battles.

Trevor Forrester, manager of Relate counselling services in Wolverhampton and Dudley, said: "Relate welcomes this commitment to mediation to help keep couples out of the court system.

"We believe that GPs and employers have a role to play in helping people get help sooner by increasing the access points available. It is not the hotspots of where in the country people are getting divorce that is crucial but the 'hot points' in people's relationships where they feel under pressure that is important."

Reverend Raphael Duckett, Vicar of St Martin's Church in Bradley, added pre-marriage courses were available for couples, as well as courses in marriage enrichment to try and avoid separations.

He said: "Communication is the big thing and marriage is all about mutual support."

Chiefs at the ministry have already announced they will spend £25million to support publicly-funded mediation this year and said new laws are being created to ensure all separating couples consider mediation to settle details of their divorce, before they take their dispute to court.