One in three won't spend time with their Facebook friends in real life

In fact, people would only spend time with an average of ten per cent of people on their list of Facebook friends.

Users of the social networking site are reluctant to delete people from their friend list because they are too scared to miss out on gossip, according to the survey of 2,863 adults over the age of 18.

Some even dislike quite a few of their so-called mates and only remained connected through Facebook to see their photos, in case they needed to contact them or because they were related, 'metro.co.uk' reported.

Few people felt intimidated by the prospect of having to cut a relationship online, with one in four frightened by the potential consequences of doing so.

Around a fifth of the people surveyed admitted they used Facebook as a way to spy on their kids and other family members.

"It seems with the results of this study, the old saying about keeping your friends close, but your enemies even closer, is definitely alive and well even in today's society with our reliance on the internet," said George Charles, marketing director of VoucherCodesPro in UK, which conducted the study.