Nearly half of Britons are concerned about the way they appear online, according to a survey by hosting company Fasthosts.

In a survey of 1,500 people, just over two thirds said they had personal material on the internet. This included photos, blog entries and Facebook profiles.

Of this number, four-fifths had concerns about their online image and a third had regretted posting one or more items.

A fifth were also worried that information posted about them by others could have a negative effect.

Mark Jeffries, CTO of Fasthosts, said: "Online identity is clearly a concern for the British public.

“With it now being commonplace to search individuals online, we should take care to present personal online material carefully and keep an eye on our online image accordingly".

The survey also found that nearly a fifth of people use the internet to find out information about people they meet. Almost a tenth also admitted to searching the internet via Google for potential romantic suitors and new work colleagues and then using the information to judge people “quickly”.