While most industries in the UK are suffering financial headaches, the sex industry is booming.

And it is British men who are boosting profits, spending an astonishing £4.2 billion this year on 'secret' sex.

Conducted by www.OnePoll.com, the survey of 4,200 men revealed that, from strippers to mobile downloads, the chaps are more than willing to splash out on cheap thrills.

The results showed that 29 per cent of those polled were regular visitors to strip clubs, though three trips a year was the average. But at an average of £62 spent on each visit amounts to more than £1.6 billion nationally.

Erotic mobile downloads featured second in the list of expenses with eight per cent of men paying for saucy images each month, while one in ten were members of adult internet sites.

A spokesman for OnePoll told Metro: "The sex industry is clearly not being affected by the recession in any way.

"It seems men will find money to indulge in the world's most famous past-time whatever the economic climate."

But while some are resorting to separate bank accounts and claiming 'extra' expenses in the workplace, a third were worried that their partner would discover their secret spending.

Perhaps the secrecy is half the appeal!