10:32am UK, Thursday August 11, 2005

The internet is the first port of call for most people looking for information.

Most people would turn to it  first rather than ask their parents, partners - or even their teacher.

180 computer internet screen.jpg

First among equals

A survey of 12,000 people across Europe found that the average computer user on the continent spent 32 hours a year online, four hours more than the average person in the UK did.

The poll, by internet firm MSN, found that more than two thirds of Britons often gave up looking for information on the web if they could not find what they were looking for quickly enough.

"It looks as though a father's role as the guru of all knowledge in the house is a thing of the past," Stuart Anderson of MSN said.

"Search services are now our first port of call for all types of information, from jobs and holiday to finding love."