More than one in 10 over-65s in Britain will be spending Christmas Day alone, according to a survey showing that a majority of people believe the festival is “over-rated”.

Telephone research into the views of 1,005 adults revealed the majority of the population – 68 per cent - will spend Christmas Day with family.

But six per cent said they would spend Christmas Day alone, with this figure rising to 11 per cent of the over-65s, the survey conducted for Theos, the public theology think-tank, showed. A majority – 54 per cent - said they thought the festival was “over-rated”, with 18 per cent, or nearly one in five, saying they “dread” Christmas.

The research conducted between Friday and Sunday, showed 82 per cent expected to spend the same or less on Christmas presents this year than last year. Nearly one in five, or 18 per cent, of those spending less, said it would make Christmas “better” as it would help them focus on the “things that matter”.

A further 62 per cent said it would make no difference because Christmas is about “more than presents”.

But 15 per cent said spending less would make Christmas “worse” because they would not be able to afford the things they want.

Only 13 per cent of all the people surveyed said they would borrow money if necessary to ensure they could afford “decent” Christmas presents.

The survey showed the least wealthy, those in the two lowest socio-economic groups, were more likely to dread Christmas, at 22 per cent, more likely to borrow money for Christmas, at 15 per cent, and more likely to believe Christmas to be overrated, at 61 per cent.