Four in ten women would rather spend time with their girlfriends than their husbands, it has been revealed. Researchers found that most women would prefer to spend a day off with their best friend as they are more fun and more likely to enjoy a good gossip.

Forty-six per cent  of females simply said women were much better company than men, and prefer hanging around with their best girly pal than their other half.

A third said they can talk about serious issues more easily with their girlfriends, and a quarter said their mates know 'the real me'.

One in five said their girlfriends always seemed much more interested in what they were up to than their husband or boyfriend.

The poll also found an independent 24% said if given the chance they would rather spend free time alone.

Of those, three quarters said they would embrace the peace and quiet, and 38% said they love having free reign of the house.

Nearly half said it would be their only chance to watch what they like on TV and surf the net without being disturbed.

Bored? Almost half of us would rather spend free time with friends or alone instead of our partners

The survey also revealed that the typical woman has just 1 hour and 14 minutes to herself every week - so it's no wonder that 77% of women said they treasure their time alone.

A third said this was because time alone was so rare - in fact nearly one in ten women said they never have the house to themselves.

But the poll found nearly one in six women purposely spend time with pals to avoid spending it with their partner.

Frequently bickering and having nothing in common were the main reasons.

Although a loyal 35% said it was because friends were just as important as men.

A crafty 13% of women said they have deliberately manufactured a situation so they could spend time with their best friends rather than their partner.

And a quarter has also done this so they can spend time solo.

Top reasons to bicker were over money, the children and household chores.

An inventive 22% of the 2000 women polled said they would love a service that removed their husband from the house for a few hours - one in twenty would be prepared to pay in excess of €100 for the service.