HAVE a rummage around your handbag – what can you see? Purse, keys, mobile phone, pen, tissues and a lippy?

Then there’s those receipts you meant to throw out, a spare pair of socks, some plasters, a safety pin, a tin of Vaseline, your phone charger, diary, and a banana just in case you get hungry.

It’s a running joke that us women tend to carry around everything but the kitchen sink in our trusty handbags, but new research has found we’re even worse hoarders than we thought, with the average woman carrying around as many as 63 objects.

Other than the usual suspects, women surveyed by Kleenex Collection pocket pack tissues said they carried all sorts of knick knacks including screwdrivers for repairing glasses and detachable faces for their in-car CD players.

But more than half the women polled (57 per cent) admitted they only used between one and five of the items in their bags on a regular basis.

TV psychologist Anjula Mutanda said: “This research shows that whilst we recognise that we don’t need all these things cluttering up our handbags we do still tend to cling on to objects ‘just in case’. We are nurturers by nature and therefore prepare accordingly.”

One self-confessed handbag hoarder is Alison Hughes, 22, of Rhodes Avenue, Blackburn.

Alison said: “The funniest thing in my handbag is probably a thong,” she laughed.

“I used to carry a bra and a pair of socks, just in case I had to stay out overnight.

“I also carry a bag within a bag so that if I got shopping I’ve got more room to put things in.

“My bags are always huge because I carry so much stuff around. I’ve got half the house with me in my bag most of the time!”

Rachel McKimm, 18, a student at Blackburn College, of Park Terrace, Blackburn, said she changes bags too often to collect too much.

“I don’t have lots of bits and pieces in my bag because I use a different bag every day so I'm always clearing it out,” she said. “I have lots of bags, more than 10, so I like to alternate them. The weirdest thing I carry around with me is probably my toothbrush so I can brush after meals.”

Retired Mildred Duffy, 72, of Hutton Drive, Burnley is organised with her handbag.

“All I really carry is my purse, keys, glasses, hankies, a comb, a pen and my indigestion tablets,” she said.

“I have different compartments for things and when I get home from a shopping trip I pin my receipts on a board rather than leave them in my bag.”

And volunteer Ann Slater, 75, of Bank Top, Blackburn said: “I always have two bags. My smaller handbag and a bigger shopping bag.

“I keep my private things in my handbag and the shopping bag could have anything in it! Today I’ve got a bus timetable for Manchester and some pies!”