AFTER months of plucking up the courage to finally ask out the girl of your dreams, you know that to impress this special lady on a first date it's worth taking a bit of extra effort.

You go all out planning a posh candlelit dinner in a fine restaurant, buying flowers and even a new shirt, the whole caboodle - after all she is worth it isn't she?

Hampshire men don't seem to think so according to the findings in a new survey by pub chain Brannigans which reveal they are some of the cheapest in the country when it comes to spending money on a first date.

On average, they spend a meagre £12.45 taking a girl out for the first time which makes them the fourth cheapest in Britain overall.

Instead of a romantic dinner and drinks a Hampshire girl would be lucky to get a bag of chips and a bus fare home according to the findings.

The survey, carried out with 3,000 people over three months, also revealed that more than 70 per cent of men and women aged between 18 and 35 would happily go on a blind date.

Debbi Sherlock, proprietor of Southampton dating agency Jupiter Introductions, thinks it is not the amount of money that is spent on a girl on her first date but how courteously she is treated.

She said: "What people don't realise is that even in the light of equality for men and women, women still like to be treated nicely by men. I advise my clients to get rid of any man who doesn't offer to pay for the first time that they go out on a date. If he doesn't show her that courtesy then I don't see that it would work out anyway."

Jon Sheehy, a spokesman for popular Southampton High Street bar Brannigans, agreed.

He said: "The survey highlights that it's not necessarily what you've got, but what you do with it that counts.

"A bag of chips can be just as romantic as a three-course dinner.

"We're all eager to meet our perfect partner and people go about it in different ways. Women are more selective than ever about their long term companion but too many men still look upon a first date as something of a challenge."

But Matt Pearce, holding manager of Southampton's Walkabout pub, said that a man taking out a woman on a first date on a Friday or Saturday night would be hard pushed to spoil her with only £12.45.

He said: "With pints at £2.40, wine at £2.75 a glass and bottles at £3.20, you would not be likely to get more than four drinks on a night out here.

"I think it's pretty bad that Hampshire men are spending so little on their first dates - perhaps they all need a pay rise."

Happy couple Davina Pillay, 19, a student, and Wasim Chowdury, 24, a restaurant manager, of Linacre Road, Thornhill, agree that Hampshire men need to be more generous.

Davina said: "I think they should spend much more than that on a first date."

The Dating Survey ranked 12 counties against the average amount spent by men on a first date.

1 Essex £24.60

2 Gloucs £24.02

3 Cheshire £22.45

4 West Sussex £21.80

5 Suffolk £21.10

6 Bedfordshire £19.05

7 Berkshire £18.19

8 Norfolk £15.08

9 Hampshire £12.45

10 Warwickshire £11.08

11 Lancashire £11.20

12 Yorkshire £9.25