British men smuggle £864m worth of shopping past their partners each year and it’s not just high-tech gadgets they’re hiding, but pricey designer gear too, a study out this week revealed.

While women tend to regularly hide purchases, men leave them far behind in the lie-buying stakes when it comes to the sheer value of their hidden shopping, says the research by insurer, Norwich Union.

The average male liar-buyer smuggles a whopping £336 worth of goods past his partner every year, compared with £227 of secret spending for women.

Surprisingly it’s not just high tech gadgets and sports equipment but clothes that men splurge on secretly, with over half the male liar-buyers surveyed (53%) admitting to hiding shopping bags full of expensive designer gear from their partners.

When asked for the reason behind their expensive lie-buying habits, most of the culprits (34%) said they were worried their partners would think their purchases were too expensive.

Rebecca Holmes from Norwich Union said: "Our research shows that the tables have turned. Men have always accused women of spending too much money on shopping, but now it’s the men who are hiding their expensive shopping."

However the research shows that women are far from blameless when it comes to lie-buying. Nearly a third (29%) of all the women surveyed by Norwich Union admitted to lying to their partner about the real price of a purchase by downplaying its true value, while one in five (21%) said they hid their shopping altogether.

And while men hide more expensive items, women do it more often, with one in 10 (10%) admitting to smuggling shopping past their partner at least once a month.

Like men, most of the women surveyed (27%) said their reasons for lie-buying was because their partner thought they spent far too much money on shopping already.

Psychotherapist Christine Webber commented: "It's slightly worrying that so many couples are lying to each other about what they buy. Trust is an important part of a healthy relationship and if people are lying to each other about shopping, goodness knows what other skeletons they're hiding in their closets."

"Money is one of most contentious areas in modern-day relationships, and it's easy to see why. If individuals want to keep their romances intact, they should think twice about lie-buying."

And Norwich Union warns there are serious implications for liar-buyers concerning their home insurance policies.

Rebecca Holmes added: "If couples are lying to each other about the cost of what they are buying, are they also under-valuing their home contents insurance? If they haven’t told their insurer the true value of their belongings they could lose out in the event of a claim."

"We strongly advise couples to be upfront with each other about their spending in order to avoid bigger financial problems later down the line."