Naughty lingerie in high demand amid Euro Cup mania

London: Desperate to charm their partners away from being glued to the Euro Cup 2012, many sex starved British women are taking to naughty knickers and suspenders.

Sales of lingerie have shot up, with retailer Littlewoods.com reporting a 38 percent increase in purchases of bras, French knickers, suspenders, and corsets since the football tournament began June 8, The Sun tabloid reported.

Birmingham city has witnessed the biggest sales rise at 48 per cent. Liverpool is fourth with 45 percent and London fifth with 43 percent.

"My partner has been glued to the football every night so I bought a nice set of bra and knickers to get his attention," said Sally Williams, 29, an officer worker from London.

"It seems to have paid off, although obviously it's more difficult to distract him when England are playing," she added.

Brand director Gary Kibble said: "Lingerie is always popular around Valentine's Day, but we've been surprised to see the football has had the same effect.

"Football will hog television screens for the next 10 days so we expect this trend to continue." (IANS)