More than half of pilots said they used their "telephone voice" on the public address system on planes to make them sound more professional, a poll by travel agent www.sunshine.co.uk found.

The survey showed that four in five airline passengers were most at ease if a pilot had an RP - received pronunciation - standard "Oxford" accent.

The poll also said that 72% of the 2,043 people surveyed felt at ease if a pilot had an Edinburgh accent, while 65% said a friendly Geordie accent made them feel safe.

But Birmingham accents instilled little confidence in travellers, with 76% saying they would not be at ease if a pilot had a Brummie accent.

Also, 83% of those polled said they would be more likely to trust a male pilot than a female one.

Sunshine.co.uk co-founder Chris Brown said: "We weren't surprised to find that the classic RP accent was the most likely to make passengers feel safe, as it's a given that the 'BBC accent' is the most widely accepted.

"I think the passengers obviously prefer it when they can't really detect an accent in their pilot's voice, but it was good to see that some were happy to hear a voice with a bit of character such as a Welsh or Scottish twang."