Game consoles contain 5 times more germs than toilet seats

A new study has found that game consoles have five times more germs than toilet seats.

According to the study, the hand-held controllers contain on average 7,863 germs per 100 square centimetres - that's five times more than a toilet seat which has 1,600, the Mirror reported.

Children's toys, garden -trampolines, bikes and balls also have more bugs.

The trampoline is worst among household items, with 640,000 germs in every 100 square centimetres - an area about the size of a coaster.

Researchers swabbed everyday things around the home for bacteria including E.coli, APC and Enterobacteriaceae.

Chair and sofa arms harbour 19,200 germs per 100 square centimetres - 12 times the amount on a loo seat, says the study carried out by Domestos and UNICEF.

And fridge handles have 7,474 bacteria over the same measure.