Britons still make time for their favourite hobby, despite modern-day pressures of work and family life.

A poll of 1,000 adults found that the most popular pastime among British adults was sport (22 per cent) followed by walking (15 per cent) and gardening (13 per cent).

Hobbies rose in popularity in the heyday of the British Empire when Britain's large middle-class found they had time and money on their hands.

But since then, the definition of what a hobby is has widened to include almost any activity enjoyed outside work.

Shopping, socialising, drinking and computing are now listed as popular pastimes, the survey found.

The most enthusiastic hobbyists live in the South and West of England, where a third of respondents said they indulged in their hobby every day.

Men spend more than women - up to hundreds of pounds a month - on their chosen pursuit whereas women spend, on average, less than £40 a month.

The survey found that women are twice as likely to exercise their credit cards than their bodies, with women in the North out-shopping women in the South.

Hitting the High Street proved to be 60 per cent more popular in the North than the South.