Adult Britons keep a cumulative £4.6 billion in cash in their houses, a recent survey has found.

The Cornhill Direct poll found that more then three quarters of respondents admitted keeping cash in the house.

On average, the sums kept around the house amounted to £127, but some respondents had as much as £300 to £1,000.

All the usual hiding places - drawers, tins, mattresses - were in evidence, but one resourceful householder, giving a new twist to the term frozen assets, actually used their freezer to store their cash.

Mark Bishop, a spokesman for Cornhill Direct, says it is "never a good idea to keep large sums in the house".

But ten per cent of those polled said they "could not be bothered" going to the bank to withdraw money from their savings or current account, claiming it is easier to keep cash handy.

Reuters has reported the savings market has enjoyed a boom since the recent Northern Rock crisis.

Banks are offering better deals to savers to increase their own cash flow as this is preferable to the now high cost of inter-bank borrowing, the news agency says.

© Adfero Ltd