£2.1bn worth of presents 'unwanted' (From Braintree and Witham Times)

£2.1bn worth of presents 'unwanted'

12:16am Wednesday 26th December 2012 in National News © Press Association 2013

An estimated £2.1 billion worth of unwanted Christmas presents were given by Britons this year, with clothing and ornaments among the popular gift gaffes.

Adults will have typically received two unwanted festive gifts worth £43.50, according to website Gumtree.

Clothing and accessories, beauty products and toiletries, and trinkets and ornaments are the most common presents that people would prefer not to have received, researchers found.

A fifth of people said their friends had most commonly got it wrong, while one in 10 blamed work colleagues and 9% said their mother-in-law had made the mistake.

Londoners have the most expensive hoard of unwanted gifts, worth £51.75 on average, and they are also the most likely to end up in the bin, with 4% of people there saying they would throw them away.

Only 2% of people questioned said they would make their feelings clear if they did not like a present, while 6% would ask for the receipt and two-thirds would mask their disappointment and thank the gift giver enthusiastically.

The research was taken from a survey of 2,000 people.