People from Northern Ireland are more likely to lose sleep because of a hectic social life than anyone else in the UK, new research has found.

According to the report, half of people here get an average of eight hours sleep a night — compared to the national average of seven hours.

They are most likely to lose sleep through social life and are the people least likely to be kept awake worrying about the credit crunch (15%) and health (14%).

The research has found they are also the people most likely to suffer from depression (27%) due to lack of sleep.

The findings of a new sleep report by GFK NOP of 2,000 adults to launch Silentnight’s National Love Your Bed Week this week, reveals Britain’s biggest insomniacs and sheds light on what’ is keeping us awake at night.

Divorced male lawyers, aged 55, living in London are pinpointed as the UK’s worst sleepers. Getting a meagre four hours a night, they are kept awake by work stress and admit to becoming bad tempered, emotional and underperforming at work as a result.

Single female bar workers, aged 20, from the East Midlands, are officially Britain’s best sleepers, snoozing an average of 10 hours a night.

And the Welsh top the poll as the most carefree in Britain — losing the least sleep over worries including the credit crunch and health problems.

The Silentnight results reveal only a quarter of Britons get the recommended eight hours a night, with the rest of us tossing and turning over family problems, work stress, health worries and discomfort. The current economic crisis does not seem to be affecting us as directly as reported, with money worries only keeping a fifth awake.

The nation’s lack of sleep is having serious affects on personal and professional lives — with one in five Brits suffering from depression, a lack of sex drive and underperforming at work; a third admitting to becoming oversensitive and snapping at friends and family; and a quarter noticing a significant difference in appearance.

And sleeping habits vary across the regions — while London and Northern Ireland officially have most trouble snoozing, those in the East Midlands and the North East get the most sleep with on average 10 hours a night.

Behaviour psychologist Donna Dawson said: “It is interesting to note we all think that other people sleep better than we do, the truth is we are all experiencing problems sleeping at night, whether it is a problem on our mind or a problem with the bed we are lying on.

“Although money problems seem to score lower than other issues that render us sleepless, ‘money worries’ could still be the real root of family problems, work stress and health issues. Whatever the reason, not getting enough sleep has far-reaching effects: on our personal and family lives, our working performance, our social contacts, and even on our appearance.”