According to a recent poll by holiday company Thomson holiday makers are carrying more than £1,500 worth of gadgets to the beach.

Its not just the technophiles — most people are carrying expensive mobile phones, digital cameras, MP3 players, BlackBerry email phones and games consoles in their beach bags nowadays.

These items are now engrained in our lives and most people would not consider travelling without them. Thanks to recent EU pressure using your mobile phone abroad has never been cheaper and we are sure to see a rise in the number of phones actually being used abroad. According to the survey 83 per cent of people would take their mobile phones on holiday.