British mobile users unable to live without their phones according to a new survey

Mobile phone owners of all ages are becoming increasingly attached to their handsets according to a new survey by Birmingham Midshire Savings. The report was released yesterday and suggests that over half the people who own a mobile never leave home without it. When it came to the importance of a mobile, 44 per cent said they couldn't live without one.

The findings also discovered that mobile users of all ages were becoming unable to be without their phone, with nearly a third of those over the age of 65 saying that it was invaluable to them. A further 26 per cent of users stated that they would spend time worrying about missing a call if their mobile got left behind at home.

Unsurprisingly, it was younger users who topped the mobile phone usage charts, with 75 per cent claiming to spend more than 30 minutes a day on their handset. BM Savings used the survey to highlight the appeal of phone-based financial transactions. Their figures revealed over half of those questioned reckoned that telephone banking was the best, and most convenient, way of handling their financial affairs.

And while the modern-day smartphone can now do pretty much everything a home computer, laptop or netbook can do, including surfing the web, sending emails and playing games, the survey concluded that people still love to talk. Despite the powerful toys found on an increasing number of mobile gadgets, the BM survey reveals that people are happiest if they can speak to someone.

“It’s clear that most of us enjoy talking on the phone and find it useful for getting day-to-day jobs done,” said John Bianca, head of Birmingham Midshires Savings Products, which commissioned the survey.