Brits gambling their money online

Each year UK residents risk £1.5 billion of their hard-earned cash by placing it on bets online.

A new poll reveals that the majority of Britons now stake between £10 and £20 each week on online gambling sites like betfair and 888.com - with Londoners and Scots the most addicted.

Two Scottish residents in five admit to placing £50 of bets a week, while one Londoner in ten stakes a staggering £300 to £500 every week, the Virgin Money poll reveals.

Residents of the south-west spend the most time playing poker or backing horses with one in 20 saying they spend up to five hours gambling online each day.

Overall 93 per cent of the 2,000 people polled for the financial firm said that they had tried gambling online.

"There’s no doubt online gambling and betting has become incredibly popular across the country – and these figures prove it," said a Virgin Money spokesman.

He added: "The internet – as with so many other areas of life - has simply made something people already enjoy even easier to access and new sites are springing up all the time.

"Gambling can be both fun and rewarding but punters should only spend what they can afford to lose."

Men favoured football sites when having a flutter online, with lottery and casino games the next top choices.

Women defied stereotypes with horse racing coming in as their second favourite thing to bet on - with the lottery top.