Bah humbug...stressed out Brits swap Christmas for the office

Christmas is just around the corner and many Brits are looking forward to the festive break, but research by Lloyds TSB Insurance reveals just how stressful Christmas can be.

One in 20 rank Christmas as being harder to cope with than divorce or burglary, so much so that millions plan to stay in the office.

As the decorations go up, many Brits will feel their blood pressure rise with over a third (36 per cent) citing buying presents as the main stress trigger. One in 10 (11 per cent) agonises over which friends and relatives to invite on Christmas day and 10 per cent dread the last minute rush to the supermarket for forgotten items like sprouts or cranberry sauce. A slice of the population (7 per cent) says that cooking the Christmas dinner is their biggest worry.

Phil Loney, managing director of Lloyds TSB Insurance, said: "Christmas stress can be a hazard to both our health and our homes as we buckle under the pressure of making sure the festivities go to plan. From shopping to entertaining and spending time with relatives, many of us find dealing with Christmas one of life's most stressful events."

Rather than enduring the pain, desperate Brits are planning to alleviate the stress in several ways:

7 per cent will stay in the office - a tactic worthy of Scrooge himself
One in 10 (10 per cent) will escape abroad this Christmas
6 per cent plan to avoid cooking by eating out on Christmas day and one in 20 will invite themselves to friends for lunch
6 per cent would rather cancel Christmas altogether
As if the stress of organising Christmas is not enough, Lloyds TSB Insurance predicts that it will pay out in excess of £1 million in claims to customers as celebrations take their toll on the home.

Some of the weird and wonderful Christmas calamities that Brits have claimed for in the past include:

I fell through the ceiling while getting Christmas decorations from the attic
The Christmas lights fell over and burnt the carpet
The sap from the Christmas tree leaked all over the living room carpet
I damaged the oven door when removing the turkey
My wife fell down the stairs with the Hoover while preparing for our Christmas dinner
I sat on a set of glasses at a party and smashed them
My wife accidentally drove over my son's new bike