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Applicants for GP training are at their lowest point since 2009, it was warned and adverts for GP partners are going unanswered.

Dr Chaand Nagpaul, chairman of the BMA's GP committee said: "General practice is under unprecedented pressure from a combination of escalating patient demand, especially from an ageing population, and falling funding.

"At the same time more and more care is being transferred into the community without the resources that GPs need to deliver it effectively. A recent BMA survey showed that GPs were struggling with their existing workload, with six in ten considering early retirement because of the problems facing general practice.

"In this environment, it is clear we need to to prevent the loss of GPs from our workforce by recruiting more GPs and other staff to cope with the increasing pressures that GP practices are facing."

A Department of Health spokesman: "The number of Full Time Equivalent GPs — which is what matters to patient care – has increased by 420 since 2012 and we expect GP numbers to continue to grow faster than the population.

"At the moment 40 per cent of trainee doctors become GPs but in the future, 50 per cent of them will do. This is a clear, long-term commitment and will lead to many more GPs.

"We recognise GPs are hard-pressed and as part of ambitious changes to the GP contract we will free them up from unnecessary red tape to devote more time to patients."

A spokesman for Health Education England, the body responsible for medical training and workforce planning, said: "The GP recruitment process is still ongoing and it would be misleading to provide any figures until this is complete.

"Our Mandate requirement is to provide 3,250 GP training places by 2015 and we are making good progress towards that."