London is top for media junkies

Londoners are the most connected people in Britain, a study has found.

Some 92 per cent own a mobile phone, the highest percentage in the country. And 42 per cent regularly use websites such as Facebook or Twitter. London also tops the table for use of internet phone and chat software.

Ofcom's Communications Market Report found the average Briton spends almost half their waking life using media and communications.

There has been a rise in multi-tasking, such as using a laptop while listening to the radio or watching TV. Television still dominates, with the average person watching it for 3.8 hours a day.

However, London is falling behind in moving to digital TV, with 87% of people having made the switch compared with a national average of 90%.

People use a fifth of all media at the same time as another form of communication, the report said.

"They are taking up more and more communications activities but fitting them into the same amount of time," said James Thickett, director of market research and market intelligence at Ofcom.

He said this was largely due to the rise in the mobile internet and smartphones: "It has untethered people from being in one particular place."

The report found that adults aged between 16 and 24 appear to consume the least, spending just six hours and 35 minutes a day on the phone, laptop, radio or television.