Finally - the UK finds a use for the web

The UK internet population has grown tired of the web's novelty value, but is increasingly using it for grown-up things like banking and job-hunting.

A survey by MORI and internet bank Egg found the amount of time consumers spend online has fallen, but more people are using the internet for complex transactions, such as online banking, fund management and job-hunting.

The research, which is published next week, found the proportion of consumers shopping online rose only slightly from 34 per cent last year to 36 per cent this year, according to the Financial Times.

However, the number of people that use online banks rose by one million to five million, or 27 per cent of users.