For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails

Sign up to our free breaking news emails

Dads aren’t always the easiest of family members to choose presents for, but with Father’s Day approaching, new research suggests you could be making a rod for your own back by picking the wrong gift.

Fishing gear turns out to be the UK’s least favourite gift for dads according to new research from MyVoucherCodes.

The website quizzed more than 2,000 people about what they buy their dad for Father’s Day and which gifts fathers would most and least like to receive on June 16.

Many dads aren’t too fussy, with just over a quarter (26%) saying they would be happy to receive anything.

While fishing gear topped the list of items that dads didn’t want to receive, golf items came second, with Hawaiian shirts placed third.

While they may suit James Bond, bow ties and ties, followed by cufflinks were the fourth and fifth most unwanted items, with gym clothes in sixth place.

“Best dad” merchandise also failed to make the grade among some dads, being the seventh most unwanted gift.

Socks, barbecue equipment and jewellery rounded off the top 10.

When it comes to favourite gifts, food appears to be the best way to some men’s hearts. A restaurant trip was crowned the Father’s Day gift that dads were most likely to want, according to the survey carried out in May by Censuswide.

A holiday was the next most-favoured Father’s Day gift, followed by beer.

Gifts don’t always need to have any monetary value – and the fourth most popular Father’s Day gift for dads was simply time spent with their children.

A hotel stay and wine were placed joint fifth, with chocolate in seventh place and tickets to a sporting event and books placed joint eighth. The simple things in life are often the best – and a home-cooked meal was ranked in 10th position.

The average spend overall on Father’s Day gifts across the survey was just over £30.

The research also suggests that women and girls are slightly more generous when it comes to splashing the cash on their dads, with the average female spending £32.15 on Father’s Day, compared with £28.97 for men and boys.

The research also showed that men and women have differing views when it comes to which gifts are well-received on Father’s Day. One in 10 women surveyed (10%) believes their dad would like a home-cooked meal, but only 8% of men surveyed actually agree.

And 10% of the women surveyed also thought that their dads or partners would like an experience day, when in fact only 7% of men quizzed would welcome that as a gift.

Sarah-Jane Outten, shopping expert at MyVoucherCodes, says: “It’s really interesting to see the difference between what men actually want for Father’s Day and what women think they want.

“What’s also really clear from the research is that dads aren’t angling for fishing gear – so to get yourself off the hook, it might be best to go with a different gift.”