Where will you find Europe's sexiest men and women?

British men have beaten their French counterparts in a Europe-wide survey of desirability, but it is Italian men who came out on top.

A survey asked 53,406 men and women in seven European countries which nationality they would choose for a romantic night out.

Spanish women were seen as the most desirable, topping the polls in Belgium, Germany, Britain, France, Italy and Portugal. Italian and German women came in joint second, followed by Denmark. Voters, all aged between 18 and 35, were not allowed to vote for their own country.

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Italian men won by a smaller margin, gathering most votes from women in Britain, Spain and Portugal. British and Spanish men came in second, with Germany coming in third.

French men did not top the league in any country, while Britain's votes came from women in Belgium and France. "If there's one thing a Frenchman has been able to rely on over the years, it has been his reputation as a lover. No more," says The Times.

Madeline Sinclair, content manager at GoEuro, an online travel search engine that commissioned the survey, said: "As English has solidified its role as the language of the traveller, Brits are becoming more and more desirable.

"Ranking lower in English proficiency than any of the other nations we surveyed, the French are increasingly losing their appeal abroad."

Nearly 30 per cent of British women voted for Italian men, while 23 per cent voted for Spanish and 18 per cent for French. More than 30 per cent of British men voted for Spanish women, while 19 per cent voted for French women and 18 per cent for Danish.