One third of British men say they sometimes hide in their bathrooms to escape family, survey claims

'We all need a little bit of time to ourselves - to take stock or switch off completely'

British men spend a total of seven hours a year hiding in the bathroom, according to survey (maria_esau/Getty iStock)

A third of British men say they sometimes hide in their bathrooms "to get some peace and quiet", according to a new poll.

The survey of 1,000 men found that on average they spend a total of seven hours a year in the bathroom for this reason.

Respondents said the main reasons they hid in the toilet was to avoid chores and look at their phones undisturbed.

The poll found that the men who were polled had one in ten of their visits to the bathroom interrupted on average - 171 during the course of a typical year.

“We all need a little bit of time to ourselves - to take stock or switch off completely," said a spokesperson for bathroom company Pebble Grey. “And the bathroom appears to be the go-to place for those moments – it’s very much a sanctuary, somewhere we can cut ourselves off from the outside world, albeit just temporarily.

“As the results suggest, peace and quiet is sacred and clearly men take the opportunity to get this where they can”.

The survey also found that respondents were most likely to be disturbed by their partners, although they often interrupted by their children too.

Forty-five per cent said getting any time to themselves was a struggle and a quarter claimed their partner does not appreciate how busy their life is.

A quarter of the men polled said that if they could not occasionally escape to the bathroom, they "don’t know how they’d cope". For a third, going to the bathroom is the only way they can "get any time to themselves

One in four described their bathroom as their "safe place" while 14 per cent said they store items such as magazines, books and even food for times when they hide away in the bathroom.

However, just under half of the men surveyed said their partner still tends to clean the bathroom most often.

A further 1,000 women also took part in the survey and more than one fifth described their bathroom as the place they go "to escape everyone and get some much needed peace".

“Apparently some things aren’t sacred anymore - including being left alone to use the loo," the spokesperson added. So it’s no wonder so many households have introduced rules to prevent disturbances. Sadly though it seems few people adhere to this rule or respect the hallowed ground that is the bathroom.”

SWNS