Women lie about their looks and men lie about their jobs in the battle to find a partner through internet dating, according to a survey of 1,000 single adults commissioned by online dating community BeautifulPeople.com

The study of single men and women – all of whom belong to leading dating sites – was conducted across the US and the UK by global research agency OpinionMatters.

It revealed that the majority of young women lie about their appearance; with most saying they are slimmer than they actually are. Nearly one in five admit to using old photographs to make themselves look younger.

Greg Hodge, managing director of BeautifulPeople.com a dating community exclusively for good looking people, said: “The online dating industry is a minefield of people misrepresenting themselves. You arrange a date with a pretty young woman with a ‘slim build’ and when you meet her it’s like she’s sent her fat older sister. Trust is broken on the first - and last - date”.

Men are no better. Almost half admit that they also lie about their appearance; with many saying they are taller than they are. Men also tell the same lies as women about age and weight.

And when it comes to other lies, men are worse than women. More than 40 per cent admit to making out they earn more than they really do or try to make their jobs sound more interesting.

In comparison, 33 per cent of women lie about their jobs to make them sound more glamorous.