Women lead in online shopping

But when men do decide to buy via the web they are likely to spend more money than women.

About 22% of women with access to the internet have bought something online compared with 19% of men, a Royal Bank of Scotland survey found.

But while women spent an average of £70 a month online, men forked out £111 a month.

Tailor-made for women

Second hand false teeth, 112 onion bhajis and a gothic sword were among the items that had been bought over the net.

But CDs, videos and books remained the most popular internet purchases.

About 29% of women said they had bought clothes online - that was twice the number of men.

When it came to groceries and wine, women also did more of the shopping with 13% saying they had bought over the net compared with 8% of men.

The big spenders

Men were more active when it came to buying travel, with 24% of men and 22% of women having made a purchase over the net.

Not surprisingly, people aged 25 to 34 were most likely to shop via the net while those aged over 55 were more reluctant web buyers.

The biggest spenders, though, were the 35 to 44 year olds who clocked up an average of £130 a month.

The research was conducted for the Bank of Scotland by Taylor Nelson Sofres and 1,000 adults - 611 with internet access - were interviewed.