Some 1,246 UK women, of which 47 per cent were over 50, were surveyed for the study by online retailer isme.com. The findings echo the views of feminist ­Germaine Greer in her book, The Change, that sexual attractiveness, rather than experience or brainpower, remains the major key that opens the door to success.

But not everyone agrees. Emma Soames, of Saga Magazine, recently said: ‘We’re welcoming an era in which 50 is the new 34.

‘This new 2010 generation can look forward to another 30 years of active life, while the generation born a hundred years ago were within a few years of the end of theirs at 50. They don’t feel their age.’