UK homeowners have spent a whopping £76 billion kitting out their kitchens with the latest culinary gadgets, with the average household splashing out £3,113, according to research by Churchill Home Insurance.

The insurance company found that the average British kitchen contains £1,539 worth of equipment at any one time, ranging from coffee grinders to microwaves.

Cookery fans are also buying increasingly pricey utensils, with the 3,063 homeowners questioned spending an average of £486 on cutlery, chopping boards, pots and pans.

But despite these large sums of money, Martin Scott, head of Churchill Insurance, believes that many homeowners are dangerously underinsured for damage caused by accidents in the kitchen.  "The research shows that the kitchen is full of expensive electrical equipment and accessories so it is imperative that house-holders make sure they are covered against any accidental damage," Mr Scott said.  "Otherwise, it’s easy to see how an everyday accident could make a real dent in the household finances."

He pointed out that nine per cent of all domestic accidents take place in the kitchen, with the average accidental damage claim for this coming to £496.

One of the more unusual claims received by Churchill relating to kitchen incidents involved a policyholder filing an accidental damage claim after his pressure cooker exploded, coating the entire kitchen in stew.