According to a brand new report Britain is the cheapest place in Europe to bring up a child, and reveals parents in Germany pay the most to provide for their baby.

In Britain a basket of goods came out top of the affordability scale at just 0.69% of average income, followed by 0.87% in Spain.

The country at the bottom of the scale was Germany where the items amounted to 1.4% of the average income.

Miles Bingham, marketing director of Family Assurance (who were commissioned to carry out the study), says: "'Rip off Britain' has been a well used phrase over the last few years, but new parents should be relieved to hear they are living in the right place.

"Whilst our survey shows you can get some items cheaper elsewhere, overall, the cost of a new baby in the UK makes far less of a dent in your income than it would elsewhere in Europe."