Esure's poll also reveals that, for the second year running, the humble sandwich toaster is the item that most people admit to owning but rarely, if ever, using. The 2004 'white elephant list' is show below:

Ranking Item % of UK adults admitting to owning but not using the item**

1 Sandwich toaster 43
2 Electric knife 23
3 Vegetable preparation devices 20
4 Footspa 19
5= Bread maker 14
5= Fondue set 14
5= Electric tin opener 14
5= Soda stream 14
9 Pasta maker 6
10 Coffee machine 2
11= Blender 1
11= Juicer 1

Nikki Sellers said: "This 'gadget mountain' of unused objects can't just be explained away by unwanted wedding and Christmas gifts. The popularity of internet shopping and browsing has probably played a large part in tempting people to purchase so-called labour saving devices, which, unfortunately, do not turn out to be as useful as originally thought."

Notes - Sources:

* £3.1bn is based on a population of 47.5m adults in the UK (source: National Statistics: Populations Trends, Summer 2004) and calculated from esure's research using an average of each price bracket. For example, 8%of people estimated they spent between £11 and

**The research was commissioned by esure home insurance and carried out by ICM Research Limited on 8th-9th September 2004. The base comprises 1,000 adults, aged 18+.

***Figures based on multiplying the average cost of the item by the number of people admitting to owning but not using the item calculated from the research and National Statistics: Populations Trends, Summer 2004. The average cost of each item was sourced from Argos, 2004. Figures have been adjusted for inflation.

Other gadgets;

Acupuncture Pen (£30): this stylish electric pen allows users to treat themselves with needles and pain.

Koolbabe (£80): this unique chiller/dispenser adapts to any size water bottle to dispense chilled water on tap.

Night Owl Keyboard (£60): this keyboard is not only splash-proof, ash-proof and crumb-proof, it also illuminates.

Water Clock (£13): a stylish clock powered by water instead of batteries or via a mains supply.