London, Jan 13 (IANS) Believe it or not, people tell the maximum number of lies in the month of January than at any other time of the year, according to a British study.

According to estimates, people tell seven lies a day in January, compared to an average of four per day the rest of the year.

Lying about New Year resolutions, exaggerating how well people were doing on diets and how many Christmas presents people got added up to an average of 217 lies during the month, said the poll conducted to mark the release of a new season of TV series “Lie To Me”.

People also boast about their festive drink intake, the Daily Express reported.

January also sees many people using the winter mornings as an excuse to feign illness and take a day off work. Many people also make up excuses to avoid socialising.

Around 2,000 adults were polled for the study.

Money is one of the top things people lie about. Many people conceal Christmas spending and how much they spend on credit and debit cards.

Some even lied about where their New Year’s Eve party was held, pretending they were at swanky parties when they were in fact at home watching TV.