Partners awaiting romantic messages from their loved ones this Valentine's Day would do better checking their mobile phone or email inbox rather than waiting for the postman to deliver, research has shown.

According to a survey by mobile operator BT Cellnet, 91 per cent of women and 88 per cent of men plan to send a Valentine's message via their mobile phone this year.

And Blue Mountain Arts, the online greetings group, predicts that 33 per cent of this year's Valentine's messages will be sent via the internet.

BT Cellnet found that over half of men said they could express their true feelings by text messages, thinking it "sweet, simple and sexy". Nearly a third of men also revealed they would even propose marriage via text messaging.

Some 70 per cent of women surveyed said they are expecting to receive a Valentine's text message from their loved one this year.

Grahame Riddell, head of consumer marketing at BT Cellnet, said: "This survey shows how mobile phones - and text messages in particular - are an indispensable part of young people's lives."

Latest estimates from the GSM Association predict that mobile phone users will send more than 200 billion text messages in 2001, double the amount sent last year.

In the UK, mobile users generated 756 million text messages in December 2000, up 300 per cent from December 1999.

Meanwhile, computer users have been warned not to open anonymous Valentine's emails in case they contain viruses.