Parents estimate that they save £900 a year on the cost of bringing up their children thanks to the generosity of their own mum and dad (their children’s grandparents) according to new research from Birmingham Midshires.

The savings provider found that parents save an average of £75 a month by relying on grandma and grandpa to provide meals, toys, gifts and entertainment.

In the battle of the sexes, grandfathers are more generous with their cash, spending £69 a month on their young relatives compared to grandmothers who spend just £45.

Children are better off if their grandparents are either very young or very old, with grandparents over the age the age of 70 the most generous, spending £92 a month on their grandchildren.

Grandparents from London spend the most, £75, followed by those in the Midlands whose monthly expenditure on their grandchildren is £73. The most frugal grandparents are in the Borders of Scotland, where the average spend is just £29 a month.