The average British garden shed contains around £2,000 worth of goods – often stored without even basic security measures, according to new figures.

A survey by insurer Cornhill Direct showed 20 per cent of people have not bothered to fit a lock on their shed and over 60 per cent admit that they do not keep their shed as secure as the garage.

And some of the most common items to be found lying in the shed do not come cheap – 75 per cent of people use their outhouse to keep lawn mowers, 55 per cent put away garden chairs and 52 per cent store bicycles there.

"It's nice to see that the great British tradition of the garden shed is still going strong but they are very attractive to thieves," said Mark Bishop from Cornhill Direct.

"Insurers receive thousands of claims for items stolen from sheds. People should only keep the bare minimum of items in their sheds as they are so vulnerable to theft."

The top twenty items found in the average garden shed range from cheaper items such as garden pots and the garden hose up to more expensive white goods such as washing machines and fridge freezers.