NEARLY 50 per cent of UK households can now access the internet from their homes.

According to the Government's Expenditure and Food Survey, an estimated 11.7 million households can browse the web.

And in the first three months of the year 54 per cent of adults in Great Britain had used the internet.

Almost those had looked for information about tickets, goods or services.

The most popular purchases were travel, accommodation or holidays (54 per cent), tickets for events (41 per cent), books, magazines, e-learning or training material (40 per cent) and music or CDs (38 per cent).

USERS of the online payment company PayPal are being warned to look out for a fake site that tries to get your personal details.

Internet Storm Centre (isc.incidents.org), a US-based site which monitors internet security, has issued a warning about a fake PayPal website which uses a valid secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate.

The fake page, advertised via email, looks like a genuine page for PayPal and even redirects you to the actual PayPal login page.

The fake website address is overly long to hide the actual host name, which comes after the @ symbol.

IF you are fed-up with the same old meals take a look online for a plate full of inspiration.

Over at Veggie Heaven (www.veggieheaven.com) you will find around 200 recipes and a UK restaurant guide with customer reviews.

If you get bored thinking about eating or of what you should cook for tea, take a look at the "Did you know" section.

You're sure to renew your veggie vows after a quick peak in there.

And then there is the star of all things food Delia Smith.

Her site (www.deliaonline.com) features seasonal food ideas, from sunshine brunches to a spectacular strawberry dessert.

And if you fancy a glass of wine to sip then winedrive.com gives you the inside guide to the best French vineyards, ones that you won't find on the supermarket shelves.