It seems that consumers are splashing the cash on items they do not really want or need in the post-Christmas sales, research has revealed.

According to findings from Bright Grey, nearly £2 billion has been spent in the January sales so far on items which are deemed to be a waste of money.

Of the women questioned by the company, 57 per cent admitted to buying items of clothing which they have no intention of ever wearing.

Roger Edwards, proposition director at Bright Grey, commented: "Christmas can be enough of a strain without adding huge bills for impulse purchases in the sales.

"Games consoles, designer clothes, TVs - people always manage to justify these big ticket items as being bargains."

However, he emphasised that people do get carried away with impulsive spending, with the cash instead needing to be put away in savings accounts.

Recent results of the Nationwide Savings Index suggest this is more important than ever, as many people failed to put money aside last month.

Its figures from December show that one-quarter of consumers did not save any money at all, with Nationwide urging them to get back into the habit of saving now Christmas is over.

Andy Hutchinson, head of savings at Nationwide, said: "It is possible that this was also exacerbated by the fact that December 2009 was the last month before VAT increased back up to 17.5 per cent from 15 per cent."

He suggested that people made the effort to buy larger items before the tax went up to avoid being stung by higher costs in the new year.

Of those questioned by Bright Grey, 48 per cent said they were using the sales to pick up high value goods.

Meanwhile, 54 per cent admitted to shopping spontaneously when they spot a bargain.