Men spend more time on the phone than women

If you're wondering where the man of the house has got to, he's probably on the phone.

Men have swopped places with women as the family chatterbox, a survey has found.

They dominate the house phone as well as constantly chatting on their mobiles.

The average man is on the phone for 32 minutes a day, up from 22 five years ago.

Women, on the other hand, spend a daily average of 26 minutes on the phone, down from 35 in 2002.

But it's not because they suddenly have less to say. Women appear to prefer to share their gossip using e-mail and text messages, said the study of 3,500 adults.

Calling banks or insurance companies, arranging tradesmen to call, buying tickets and booking restaurant tables were included in the conversations used to calculate the time spent on the phone. Work calls, however, were not.

Almost three in ten men (29 per cent) said that sport was their favourite topic, followed by 22 per cent who discussed the mysteries of women and 20 per cent the even greater mysteries of money.

A third of women (32 per cent) said they chatted most about men.

A similar number said what (and what not) to wear was their main topic of conversation.

Other top subjects were mutual friends and making plans to socialise.

The survey, carried out by loyalty card company Nectar and the telecommuncations firm Talk Talk. also came up with the talkers of the towns, or rather the regions.

Scotland boasts the biggest chatterboxes with 62 per cent of all adults spending more than 30 minutes a day on the phone.

Those in the South-West and Wales also tend to be hooked on their phones.