Britons have had £1.5 billion lost or stolen from them while on holiday, a new report has found.

According to the research, a tenth of Britons have had goods worth over £500 stolen while abroad and a similar amount have misplaced items worth that much.

"The summer holiday is many people's largest annual purchase but it can be ruined by loss or theft," said Chris Price, business manager at Direct Line Travel Insurance, which carried out the research.

"This can often be made worse by people being unable to replace the items upon their return home because they had not taken out travel insurance."

While foreign holidays continue to remain popular with Britons, many are leaving a little piece of England, Scotland, Ulster or Wales behind, with clothing and sunglasses being the most forgotten.

Even though muggings and pickpockets are the greatest fear for tourists, a quarter of theft victims had things taken from their own hotel room.

Mr Price urged holidaymakers to take out insurance to cover them in event of loss or theft for when "the worst happens".

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