Parisians' unbridled sexuality has been laid bare in a new study which finds that a far higher proportion than the national average are unfaithful, while almost third have partaken in a threesome and a quarter an "orgy”.

The number of people Parisians have slept with is 19 on average – almost twice the national average and more than twice the number of sexual partners Londoners have had judging by a recent cross-Channel poll.

Entitled Paris, City of Light, City of Debauchery?, the new survey by respected polling institute Ifop confirms the French capital’s reputation as “the land of sexual liberty par excellence” and also defines the city as a “haven for sexual minorities”.