PEOPLE in Basingstoke are amongst the top spenders in the country on sex toys, a survey has found.

Lovehoney, an online sex toy retailer, rated Basingstoke the fourth sexiest town in England and Wales based on spending per head on sex toys, such as whips and blindfolds.

The company took a sample of more than 500,000 orders over the past three years and divided the amount spent in each area by the population.

The figures show that the spending per head in Basingstoke is 58p. The top town was just down the road in Fleet, with 62p spending per head, followed by Didcot, Oxfordshire (59p), and Godalming, Surrey (58p).

The bottom five towns and cities were Sunderland, County Durham (10p), Bedford, Bedfordshire (13p), Blackburn, Lancashire (14p), Rotherham, South Yorks (15p), and Oldham, Greater Manchester (17p).

Sex expert Tracey Cox said: “Sex is booming in Acacia Avenue. Twitch those curtains and all sorts of exciting stuff is going on in bedrooms.

“This is all about couples being experimental with their sex lives and realising you need to work at desire. Sex has never been steamier in the suburbs.”

Hampshire was the third highest county in the survey, with 40p spent per head.

Lovehoney’s founder Richard Longhurst said people are spending more on sex toys because of the poor financial climate.

He said: “Couples simply cannot afford to spend £100 on a big night out any more. They’d rather spend £40 with us and have a lot more excitement together at home.”