Grown-up sons and daughters across the country are spending £11 billion a year trying to impress their parents because they feel guilty about not seeing them enough.

According to research carried out by ICM Research on behalf of Barclaycard, one in four adults spend up to £2,000 a year on their parents by buying gifts or paying for meals out.

Busy 35-44 year olds are the most likely to dig into their pockets, with over a third admitting they make up for the lack of time with their parents by spending money on them.

The survey also found twice as many men as women indulge their parents because they are too busy to spend time with them. They also spend more than women on average - £65 compared to £57.

Nearly 80% of those surveyed claimed that taking their parents out for a night on the town was their favourite treat, while more than 60% admitted that they splashed out on their parents at least five times a year, on top of Christmas, birthdays and Mother's and Father's Day.

Across the country, it's the Scots that worry the most about neglecting their parents, with a third admitting to spending money on their folks to compensate for being too busy to see them.

Guilt ridden Londoners fork out the most money with one in five respondents admitting to spending more than £200 each time they treated their parents.

Barclaycard's Gordon Blunt said: "We've so many pressures at work and at home that it is becoming harder to spend as much time with our parents as we'd like. I can certainly relate to the findings and will often push the boat out, lavishing gifts on my parents to compensate for time missed."