Mothers will spend an average of £195 on each of their children this Christmas, with a quarter lying to their partners about it, a survey suggests.

Just 6% of mothers plan to spend less than £50 per child, 13% will spend between £201 and £300 and 6% admit to buying gifts for each youngster worth between £301 and £500, the poll for the MummyPages website found.

But a quarter of mothers (24%) expect to lie to their partner about how much they have spent.

The survey reveals a correlation between online shopping and lower spending, with five of the seven highest-spending regions showing a lower than average percentage of online shoppers.

The average spend per child in the South East and South West is £158 and £168 respectively, but the figure rises to £207 in Scotland, £211 in Wales, £242 in the east of England and £250 in Northern Ireland.

MummyPages spokeswoman Amanda McKnight said: "It is important to remember that managing your child's gift expectations is the key to not putting yourself under immense financial pressure.

"Children remember experiences more than the toys they receive at Christmas, so plan some fun days out with the family over the festive period and spend time together enjoying one another."

:: MummyPages used Monkey Survey to survey 1,026 mothers between November 5 and 19.