Life for children in Britain is more dangerous than it used to be and paedophiles pose an increased risk to youngsters, according to a survey published today.

An ICM poll for the Guardian newspaper revealed that 57 per cent of people believe paedophiles posed more of a risk to children and they used to and 79 per cent said Britain was more dangerous for children than it used to be.

In addition, 71 per cent said that they believed that parents today encouraged their children to grow up too quickly about nine out of ten parents believed that their children were experimenting with sex and drink at a much earlier age.

Most people said they felt other people's children were polite and well-behaved but about half described their own as attention seeking, hyperactive, spoilt or inconsiderate.

And 85 per cent of people said parents should continue to be allowed to discipline their children by smacking.

Only one in four people believed that unhappy couples should stay together for their children's sake. Two out of three said they should split up.

Only eight per cent of those questioned believed the Conservative Party to have "family friendly" policies. A quarter backed Labour and seven per cent went for the Liberal Democrats.

ICM interviewed a random sample of 1,050 adults aged 18 and over by telephone between August 11 and 13.