A British accent is the most attractive in the world, according to a poll of 11,000 people in 24 cities around the world.

More than a quarter of respondents preferred a UK accent with people in Paris, New York and Sydney the most keen, The Time Out Global Dating Survey found.

It was chosen ahead of an American accent in second followed by Irish and Australian. French, once considered the language of love, was back in fifth place. The survey did not indicate what kind of British accent was best.

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However Paris was still considered the most romantic city or at least the one with the “best dating scene”, ahead of Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Chicago. London was in sixth place.

Some 58 per cent of people said they checked up on a date on social media before meeting them.

More than half kissed on the first date, while one in 10 said sex on a first date was acceptable.

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The average number of dates before the couple had sex was 3.5, but nine dates were required before most were comfortable with calling themselves a couple.

Some 31 per cent of single people in Sydney said they were “proud to be so” while 45 per cent of New York singletons were “sad” about it.

Respondents were asked to comment on their local dating scene.

Those in Kabul, Afghanistan, said the best thing about the city was there were “infinitely more men than women due to an overabundance of military and security personnel”.

Someone in Bogota, Colombia, reported “the guys are ugly and girls very beautiful”.