The euphemism most commonly used to describe sex by Londoners is 'riding', according to a survey.

The survey of 2,391 Brits aged 18 and over found 23 per cent of people from London chose the word 'riding' when asked what phrase they used to describe sexual relations with their partner.

Londoners were a lot less imaginative with their sexual euphemisms than other parts of the UK, with places such as Wales using 'hiding the sausage' as their method of describing love making.

‘Jumping bones’ is the most commonly used phrase in the south east to describe having sex, according to the poll.

The north west had 'doing the naked dance' as the most popular phrase, while the east of England used the term 'bumping uglies'.

The people of London can at least feel safe in the knowledge that their most popular term is more creative and imaginative than the most popular term in Northern Ireland, which was simply 'sexual intercourse'.

According to the poll, run by Voucher Codes Pro, of all respondents taking part in the survey, just 10 per cent would describe intimacy with their partner as ‘having sex’, while the rest preferred to use a slang phrase or term to describe what they did.

George Charles, spokesperson for Voucher Codes Pro, said: “It’s no real surprise that Britons don’t use the most straightforward of phrases when describing their sex lives, what with slang being such a big part of this day and age – just look at the new words and phrases being added into the dictionary every year."

All respondents were asked what phrase they used most to describe or talk about having sexual relations with their partner. When provided with a list of possible responses and told to select all that applied, the most common phrase per region was revealed:

South west – ‘Doing the deed’ (26%)

London – ‘Riding’ (23%)

North east – ‘Getting down to business’ (23%)

Yorkshire & Humberside – ‘Having nookie’ (22%)

Wales – ‘Hiding the sausage’ (17%)

East of England – ‘Bumping uglies’ (16%)

Scotland – ‘Getting jiggy’ (15%)

West Midlands – ‘Humping’ (12%)

East Midlands – ‘Banging’ (11%)

North west – ‘Doing the naked dance’ (10%)

Northern Ireland – ‘Sexual intercourse’ (9%)

South east – ‘Jumping bones’ (9%)