Ananova:

Women in their 40s are more likely to go knickerless than those in their 20s, a survey has revealed.

The underwear survey, for the Woman & Home magazine, found that 4% of women between the ages of 40 and 49 confessed to wearing no knickers, compared with just 1% of women aged 20-29.

The poll of around 1,000 women also revealed a north-south divide in underwear, with 23% of northern women wearing "big pants", compared to 18% in the Midlands and 15% in the South.

Briefs proved the most popular form of underwear, gaining 44% of the vote, whilst 19% opted for big knickers, 16% for bikini pants and 10% for the G-string.

But when it comes to buying underwear, the survey revealed that women tend not to splash out, with 63% of women paying less than £25 for their most expensive item, though 1% admitted to forking out more than £100 for a single pair of knickers.

The poll also showed that women who buy underwear for their men opt to buy loose cotton-fit boxer shorts, with 20% buying stretchy boxer shorts and 16% preferring briefs.

Old-fashioned Y-fronts gained 7% of the vote and a posing pouch registered 1%, but 3% prefer their man with no underwear on at all, the survey showed.