Our £3.5bn stashed away in biscuit tins

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The astonishing amount is enough to build five Wembley stadiums, or pay the salaries of 1,000 policemen.

But our habit of hoarding is costing us dear- as inflation means the cash is steadily losing value.

A poll of 2,000 people for Virgin Money found that one in six of us are part of the "Biscuit Tin Economy".

A sneaky 6 per cent say that they are hiding the money from their partners, while 4 per cent say they do not trust their banks.

One per cent said they were cheating the taxman - but the researchers said they are also cheating themselves, as the money would gain value rather than lose it if it was stashed in an ISA for five years instead.

Dr Alexander Koch, an economist at the Royal Holloway University who carried out the research, said:

"Keeping cash at home is not wise. Brits are throwing away the opportunity to easily earn several hundreds of millions of pounds over a few years."

John Franklin of Virgin Money added: "If your biscuit tin is packed with cash instead of custard creams, it might be time to start thinking about investing your money."