Slipping by the poolside and falling down while drunk are the most common cause of injuries for travelling Britons, the survey by online travel agent www.sunshine.co.uk has found.

Food poisoning, sunstroke and tummy upsets topped the list of the most common illnesses suffered by Britons abroad, the poll of 1,956 holidaymakers showed.

While only 11% of women polled claimed to have suffered an injury on their travels, as many as 34% of men said they had been hurt.

Other causes of injury included road accidents, water sport injuries and skiing falls, while leading causes of illness included jetlag and altitude sickness.

As many as 19% said they had gone on holiday without taking out travel insurance. Of these, 32% wanted to save money, while 41% reckoned it was "unnecessary".

Chris Brown, co-founder of sunshine.co.uk, said: "Unfortunately, illness and injury on holiday can be all too common.

"We weren't expecting to see such a high number of respondents admit to going on holiday without insurance in the past and hope this is something people will reconsider after seeing our research results."