Over five million Britons now work remotely from home, according to a new study.

Research from internet analysts Point Topic found 4.3 million households, or 18 per cent of all homes across the UK, in which someone is working from home.

Overall, 5.4 million individuals work from home, 70 per cent of whom use the internet as their chief tool.

According to the survey, most home workers are self-employed and likely to be men between ages 25 and 54 with families, situated in a suburb of London or another prosperous town.

London and the South East had the highest concentration of remote workers, while Wales, the North West and Yorkshire recorded the lowest numbers.

Home workers generally fell into three categories: freelancers, teleworkers and those running small businesses from home.

These groups tend to be more knowledgeable about IT issues and conscious of potential security concerns, researchers found.

On average, remote staff spend almost double on security measures for their IT equipment than non-home workers.

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