To snooze or not to snooze?

Dog tired? Some of us just need to go to bed earlier, says sleep expert Kevin Morgan(Photo: Andrzej Pobiedziński)

Most of us like to hit the snooze button in the morning at least once, according to a new survey.

The typical Brit hits the snooze button at 6.22am but won't get out of bed for another 10 minutes.

That's according to a poll of 2,000 people by Premier Inn.

Ten per cent said they loved their beds so much in the morning that they press snooze five times before getting up.

Fourteen per cent will snooze repeatedly right up to the last moment before finally tearing themselves from the duvet.

Nearly a quarter of the adults hit snooze just once, falling back to sleep and then getting up as soon as the alarm goes off again.

But a good 44% have the will power to get up as soon as the alarm goes off, with a quarter saying they like their alarm so loud it frightens them into waking up.

Just over a quarter (27%) prefer the gentle wake up.

The research also found 61% of Brits use their phone to wake them up, with one in 20 setting three alarms to guarantee they get up.

Half of adults have slept through their alarm in the past which resulted in a quarter missing their bus or train to work, one in ten missing an interview and a quarter have received a warning from their boss. A third said they did not perform well at work as they were so stressed about being late.

Sleep expert, Kevin Morgan from The Clinical Sleep Research Unit, Loughborough University said: "Waking feeling refreshed and able to face your day is the hallmark of good quality sleep. If your alarm rings, it's telling you to get up. But if your body is frequently too sleepy to respond, it's probably telling you to go to bed earlier.

"Lying in bed after the alarm is fine – as long as you're alert, thinking and preparing to get up. This period can actually be helpful.

"But if you're too sleepy to get your mind and motivation into gear – you should really consider what's going on with your life and your sleep."