For DIY, read Destroyed It Yourself. Some of us are so outstandingly bad at home improvements we have to take annual leave to sort out our blunders, research shows.

One in four people admits having to take whole projects apart and start again from scratch because the first effort was so hapless. One in ten botches the job so much they have to get the builders in. Men are by far the worst offenders.

And the younger they are, the quicker they give up, with four in ten under-30s leaving jobs half-finished. L

Londoners are most likely to pay someone else to fix it, while the Scots are most likely to start all over again to put right a botched job themselves, said loft insulation firm Space Blanket.

'For some people, even fitting a shelf can take all day. It's best to be realistic and plan DIY jobs before you get started,' added a company spokesman.