Valentine’s Day is fast approaching - traditionally a seasonal sales bonanza for card manufacturers, florists, restuarants, chocolatiers and the lingeries industry. But there are signs that sales of exotic underwear are starting to slip.

The business information company Experian has reported that sales of G-strings and French knickers have declined and accounted for only 12% of the women’s knicker market in 2007, 4 per cent down on a year ago. Our bulging waist lines might account for evidence that men bought almost twice as much corsetry in 2007 than they did in 2006. If you reside in London, Shrewsbury, and Cheltenham you have the dubious distinction of living in towns and cities with the higher number of lingerie stores per shopper while Dartford, Slough and Wakefield have the lowest - possibly because people there don’t make a thong and dance about artificial commercial events such as Valentine’s Day!