Britain has been revealed as a nation of car park `prang and runners' according to new research released today.

As many as one in five drivers in the UK confess to having damaged someone else's car on a car park and then driven off without leaving contact or insurance details.

Lawyers are among the worst offenders with one in four admitting to leaving the scene. Estate agents and other people working with property seem to be even less willing to own up, with one in three guilty of a `prang and run' offence.

The survey by Confused.com shows that one in six people say they would never leave their details if they damaged another car on a car park. Overall, 45% say they would only leave details if the damage looked `serious'.

Teachers are among the most honest, with only 9% having driven off without leaving details. People working in environmental services also appear to be more respectable, with just 8% making a quick getaway after a scrape.

Men are the more careless gender, with 20% of male drivers admit to having bumped another car in a car park compared to only 15% of women, but men are also more likely to admit to their error - at least to themselves. One in five men blames their own driving for the accident whereas more women blame the parking spaces for being too small.

The most common reasons given for driving off without leaving details were embarrassment at 31% and financial implications at 30%, indicating that many drivers are just too afraid of losing their dignity and their no-claims bonus.

Cars are much wider these days while the standard minimum parking space size has not altered. The modern Mini is nearly a foot wider than the original.

The legal minimum for spaces is 180cm, but the average width of cars sold in the UK last year according to Confused.com was 185cm - before leaving room to open doors.