Online gaming is fast becoming a national phenomenon with online gamers spending an average £1,820 a year on the net, according to a new survey.

Research conducted by the cyberslotz website found the average gamer visits an online site at least once a fortnight, spending around £70 over a two-and-a-half hour period.

The increasing cost of high street casinos has helped fuel a surge in online gaming and gambling, aided by the improved availability of high-speed internet connections, which allow more and more Britons to access online sites.

Regular 'real-life' bingo-goers may be shocked to hear that 31 per cent of those surveyed admitted to visiting a bingo hall within the last year, and 30 per cent played bingo online.

"The statistics revealed in our survey shouldn't come as a shock