Aspiring soldiers from west London were least likely in the UK to get into the army last year.

At the Victoria army careers centre, in Westminster, 290 out of 1,120 applicants failed the test, resulting in the highest failure rate (25.9%) in the UK from April 2014 to the end of December 2014.

The failure rate at the centre in Rochester Row near Vincent Square has shot up in the past two years from just 16.5% in 2012/13 to 25.4% in 2013/14 and is now even higher.

Despite it having the worst pass rates, it had one of the smallest increases in failure rate compared to the 72 other army recruitment centres in the UK.

London’s other recruitment centre, in Kings Cross, had the second highest failure rate in the country at 25.5%, compared to the UK average of 19.5%.

The Victoria recruitment centre is in Rochester Row

The figures were released to getwestlondon by the Ministry of Defence in response to a Freedom of Information request.

The MoD said the most common reason for a test failure was on medical grounds, followed by not being eligible to apply due to age or nationality.

To join as a regular soldier recruits need to be at least 16-years-old and training needs to start before their 33rd birthday, while officers are aged between 18 and 26 with some leeway for professional applicants.

Having offensive or obvious tattoos or piercings was the fourth most common reason for failing while a lack of motivation and commitment was the fifth biggest reason people were kicked out of the recruitment process.