A new study by YouGov Research and the children’s charity Dreams Come True has shown the extent of the UK’s love of tea.

British consumers drink the combined equivalent of 5,300 Olympic swimming pools’ worth of the beverage every year – or 265l of tea each. On average, Britons consume 17 cups of tea each week, or just over 2.4 cups per day. And the pursuit of a good brew sets the average shopper back £12,500 during their lifetime, which works out at close to £3.82 every week over the course of an average British adulthood.

Women were 50% more likely to buy herbal teas than men, and the survey of English, Welsh, Scottish and Irish tea drinkers found that the over-55 demographic consumed 2.5 times as much as tea as those aged between 16 and 24.

And, despite consuming the least amount of tea in the whole of Britain, the average Londoner spends nearly £16 on the drink – the highest outlay anywhere in the country.

Tea expert Malcolm Ferris Lay told London-based newspaper The Irish Post: “We are seeing a rise in the popularity of flavoured teas as more people are becoming experimental and looking for healthier alternatives to the ‘builder’s tea’.

“But either way we are a country that loves tea and we aren’t about to be cutting down anytime soon. It’s part of our culture.”