THREE-quarters of couples in Bradford have more sex over the festive holidays - and Christmas Eve is the favourite day for passion, according to a new survey.

Four out of five people (82%) say that Christmas is an ‘aphrodisiac’ and they desire sex more at this time of year because it is a time of celebration.

A similar number of respondents (84%) say relatives sleeping nearby does not stop them from having sex.

The most popular festive song to have sex to is Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, followed by Last Christmas by Wham and Fairytale of New York by the Pogues and Kirsty MacColl.

Cheating surges in December and the peak day for affairs this year will be Friday, December 18 - the last full working day before Christmas week.

The figures are from a survey of 2,000 people by IllicitEncounters.com, the UK’s leading affairs website.

It found that Christmas Eve was our favourite night for festive frolics, chosen by 44% of respondents, followed by New Year’s Eve (28%), Christmas Day (17%), New Year’s Day (6%) and Boxing Day (5%).

A fifth of couples (22%) said they had been caught having sex while staying with relatives over Christmas.

And almost half (52%) said they had heard other couples having sex while staying with family in the same house.

Almost four out of ten of those questioned (38%) said that Christmas was the most likely time of the year when they would cheat on a partner.

A third of respondents (33%) have cheated on a partner in December, with the office Christmas party the most likely occasion.

Jessica Leoni, IllicitEncounters.com sex and relationship expert, said: “It is going to be a very Merry Sexmas in Bradford this year with couples wanting to put a nightmare 2020 behind them by sharing a lot of intimacy over the Christmas holiday."