Sixth of Britons have secret bank accounts

One in six Britons has a bank account they keep secret from their partner, with the average person having more than £2,000 stashed away, a survey indicated.

Around 15 per cent of people have savings they have not told their other half about, and while people typically hold £2,033 in their secret account, one in 20 are hiding more than £10,000, according to the Post Office.

A quarter of secret savers claim the money is their safety net in case their relationship does not work out, while 18 per cent said the cash was none of their partner’s business.

A further 20 per cent said they liked having the money as it made them feel more independent, and 10 per cent said they had to keep their savings secret otherwise their partner would spend them.

Men are twice as likely to have a secret savings account as women, with 22 per cent admitting they hid money from their partner, setting aside an average of £2,128 each, while only 11 per cent of women did a similar thing, hiding an average of £1,927.