Scots buy and spend more for Christmas gifts compared to 'stingy' Londoners

Londoners spend more than £60 less than Scots for Christmas gifts

Christmas tree lights decorate Oxford Street in London (Getty)

A new north-south divide is brewing in the run-up to the yuletide season after it was revealed people in Scotland are more generous with Christmas gifts than Londoners, a study has suggested.

Scots each spend around £268 on approximately 15 gifts for 11 people on average, compared to £206 for eight people per Londoner, a survey by eBay has said.

Those living in the South West of England will buy 19 gifts each on average - the most in the UK - and spend £241 in total, according to the research by the auction website.

They have also been found to be 13 per cent more likely than any other region in the UK to each buy between 20 and 30 gifts altogether for their families and friends.

It seems children typically get the best end of the deal as they have £199 on average spent on them by their potentially money-short and time-poor parents.

But despite the regional differences in how flash we are with our cash, the British have been found to be the best in Europe in motivating ourselves to pound the busy high street pavements or scour endless online shop listings to find suitable presents.

The last-minute Christmas Eve rush also appears to be a thing of the past as five per cent of British people are said to leave their shopping to the last week while two fifths are organised enough to spread the cost and time spent shopping throughout the year by starting early.

Thrifty Germans will spend £155 on average while the French will fork out around £184 on gifts, according to the research.

More than a quarter of Germans (28 per cent) describe their approach to Christmas shopping as "spontaneous" while those in Spain (10 per cent) and Italy (14 per cent) are most likely to leave it to the last minute.

A total of 1,012 British people aged 16-64 were surveyed last month.

More than 10,000 adults worldwide were surveyed in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, South Korea, Spain and the US.

eBay spokesperson Julia Hutton-Potts says: “The spirit of Christmas is clearly alive and well in the UK.”