Money can buy you love

If you're a single man in London, you may well be twice as likely as any other Brit to be propositioned today, with women free to take a leap of love and pop the question.

For women looking for that special someone to spoil them rotten, a Londoner may well fit the bill. London males spend an average of £2,458 a year showering their loved ones with gifts – well over double the national average of £1,015.

With the last rose petals doubtlessly wilted and the final Valentine's Day champagne truffle nibbled, many Brits may be a little out of pocket as they approach the end of February. Research from price comparison site moneysupermarket.com confirms this with women forking out £659 on their partner each year, while men lavish £1,326 on items such as anniversary gifts, dining out, flowers and special holidays.

With London males and females splashing an average of £1,776 on each other, somewhere has to bring the average down and that honour has fallen to those in the North of England where £873 is spent.

Richard Mason, director at price comparison site moneysupermarket.com, said: "People might laugh at the North where the starry-eyed spend is less than half of that in London, but £873 a year is still a pretty respectable figure. It's certainly my job as someone who lives and works in the North to defend our romantic credentials.

"And it's the Midlands that has the dubious honour of having three per cent of people spending nothing on their partner.

"With men showing so much generosity on the whole, perhaps a few females will repay that attention on February 29 with a proposal of their own and a gleaming gold band."

The research also found British males spending seven times more on gifts for their partners than on extras for their next love – their cars, which came in at £191.

Richard Mason added: "It's a pleasant surprise that romance hasn't been replaced with revs. I'd feared many women out there would have been feeling a distant number two to man's four-wheeled friend."

Of the 53 per cent of car owners who do spend something on extras such as speakers, alloy wheels, high profile tyres or flashy seat covers, it is those in the Midlands who lead the way with an average outlay of £576. British car fanatics in their 20s outweigh that with a spend of £956 each on automotive non-essentials.