Is your partner's smartphone the greatest threat to your relationship?

For those lucky enough to be in love, you’d think it would only be their sweetheart they want within arm’s reach at night. 

But it appears that for many Britons, their other half has been upstaged by a rather modern love rival – a smartphone.

One in eight adults claim their partner spends more time using their phone than speaking to them, a poll shows. 

Distracted: Many people admitted to checking their mobile phones even during a conversation

Men appear to be more smitten with the gadget than women,  keeping their phones within arm’s reach for 17 hours each day.

 

Nearly one in five (18 per cent) sleep with their phones next to them in bed.

Women were slightly better, with 15 hours a day, and 16 per cent slept with a smartphone next to them. 

Yet even when couples do spend  time together, loved ones still come off second best to a phone. 

On a typical night out, Britons spend 48 minutes on their phones – sending an average three emails, 12 texts, two pictures as well as posting three messages and two status updates on Twitter.

More than a third (34 per cent) admitted texting or emailing during a face-to-face conversation, while 27 per cent keep one eye fixed on the devices to check if the little red light is flashing during activities such as dinner or a film. 

A whopping 90 per cent of adults also admit to answering phones during a social occasion, the ‘Tech-iquette Report’ for Sheilas’ Wheels home insurance revealed.

Spokesman Jacky Brown said: ‘Addiction to phones is taking its toll on our social lives.’

Addicted: 16 per cent of women even take a smartphone to bed with them