Is this a regional thing in England?

Not that I am anything like an expert, but I think the phenomenon may have been originated by non-rhotic speakers of little literacy who assumed "r"s where there were none. Like so many fashions, this one may have moved upwards on the social ladder. -

What strikes me with some American accents, is the usage of "r" to include the preceding vowel. "At rprts thr r two kinds of frnrs: trsts and trrrsts."