The figures, complied by First Direct, have revealed that our love affair with the mobile phone shows no sign of abating with the average person owning 1.6 mobiles.

A study by the bank found that 45 million adults share almost 70 million mobile phone numbers and over 71 million handsets. And whilst a mere 12 per cent of the adult population do not have a mobile phone at all and just under half make do with just one mobile, a greedy nine percent admit to having at least four handsets.

Despite the figures, the fan club for the old fashioned landline is still going strong with twenty eight million Brits still preferring to use them to speak to family and friends, and 75% of women would opt for a conventional phone over a mobile.

But the study does seem to be something of a sign of the times. It has revealed that younger people are most comfortable with mobile phone use, regardless of the situation.

Almost half (49%) of young people would prefer to speak to friends on a mobile, indicating that many of them have been using mobiles for a number of years and that increasingly, youngsters are viewing the conventional telephone as obsolete.

Commenting on the findings, Alison Leonard, first direct’s head of e-commerce said: “The mobile phone has become the remote control for our lives. We use our mobiles to keep in touch with friends, family and workmates.

“But the days when we kept just one handset are fast fading, as many of us have different phones for different purposes. With one phone for work, one for friends and potentially a personal organiser or BlackBerry as well, mobilemania has swept the nation.”

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