One postcode in north London has more than 60 approved applications for certificates of exemption to keep an XL Bully dog.

Data from a Freedom of Information request by The Spectator showed that the EN3 postcode – covering Enfield Highway, Enfield Island Village, Enfield Lock, Enfield Wash, Ponders End – had 62 exemptions.

This means that the area has the 188th most approved applications to keep an XL Bully dog out of 2,424 postcodes in England and Wales.

After a number of high-profile serious attacks across the UK, it became a criminal offence to own or possess an XL Bully dog in England and Wales on December 31 last year.

People can still apply for a certificate of exemption to keep an XL Bully dog they already own.

It is also illegal to sell, abandon, or give away an XL Bully dog.

Letting it roam freely, breeding it or using it for breeding, or having it in public without a leash is also a criminal offence.

Postcode N1 - Barnsbury, Canonbury, Kings Cross, Islington, Pentonville, De Beauvoir Town, Hoxton - had the second highest approved applications in north London (58).

A total of 57 exemptions have also been approved in postcode N9, covering Edmonton and Lower Edmonton.

Despite high numbers of exemptions in some north London postcodes, other areas have seen fewer than 10 approved applications.

These postcodes include N6 – Hampstead Heath and Highgate – and N3 – Finchley, Church End and Finchley Central.