'£1.2bn' wasted on unwanted gifts

Not all presents are welcomed come Christmas Day

Unwanted presents worth £1.2bn were bought this Christmas, online auction site eBay has said.

People spend an average of £20 on unwanted presents for other people, research for the site found.

Almost half - 49% - of the 1,960 18 to 34-year-olds questioned in the survey would consider selling their unwanted gifts online.

An eBay spokesman said: "Every year there are a couple of turkeys under the Christmas tree."

Those wanting to get into the Christmas spirit could donate the money received to charity, instead of spending it on more goods, the spokesman said.

Only one in every 25 of those questioned would throw their unwanted gifts out.

People spent an average of £31 per gift, the survey found, while the average spend on all gifts, food and decorations totalled £641.