GNOME ALONE

1 MILLION MORE IN OUR GARDENS

BRITS are going potty for gnomes, with sales booming by 20% in the past year.

It’s reckoned that a million have been sold, meaning there is now an army of about 6million gnomes in our gardens.

The nation’s love affair with gnomes peaked in the 1970s, after manufacturers came up with “naughty gnomes” and ones dressed as Smurfs, in football strips and in daft costumes.

Sales dipped over the past 15 years, with Brits said to have “fallen out of love” with the garden ornaments.

But now gnomes – invented in Germany in the early 19th Century – are back in fashion in a big way.

The sales boom was revealed in a study by Sainsbury’s Bank, in which bosses wanted to discover what we were spending our money on.

Figures from its own Sainsbury’s and Argos stores and industry data showed we spent on average £597 kitting out our gardens – a rise of 97% compared to £303 in 2019/20.

That’s a rise of £3.7billion in spending, from £3.9bn in 2019/20 to £7.6bn. Items on shopping lists included pot plants, garden furniture, heaters, barbecues, fire pits and hot tubs. The survey found 71% of the 2,000 polled said they had “fallen in love” with their outdoor spaces again.

But a spokesman for Sainsbury’s Bank warned it was important to check garden property is properly insured.

He said 67% admitted they had suffered fire, theft or damage to garden gear in the past year – but most didn’t know if they were covered by their buildings and contents insurance.

Jason King, of Sainsbury’s Bank, said: “Homeowners are pretty good at estimating the value of their household items when they look at their insurance policies, but it’s surprising to see so many are not considering their garden items as part of this.”