Londoners turn to the web for bank holiday DIY tips

Almost half of Londoners will spend the bank holiday doing DIY - but a third will turn to the Internet for help on how to carry out jobs around the house.

Research by the home insurance company Zurich found 48 per cent of people will carry out home repairs this weekend, though 58 per cent said they had little or no experience in the area.

A third will turn to the internet for tips rather than hiring expensive tradesmen according to the survey of 2,000 homeowners.

The average cost of botched jobs was £181.90 per person, with a quarter admitting to hurting themselves with hammers, nails and other tools.

Phil Ost, a home insurance expert, said: “We’ve seen an increase in the number of home insurance claims directly after the May and Spring bank holidays.

“Our research suggests that turning to the internet for DIY advice to save money could be a false economy.

“Advice found on internet forums and YouTube videos is not necessarily from professionals and with most of us having little or no DIY experience, a DIY fail might cost more to put right than anticipated.”

The most frequently botched jobs included hammering nails into walls, putting up shelves and grouting tiles.