Internet usage in Coventry is on the rise, but the flood of people buying new computers has slowed to a trickle this Christmas.

An extensive government survey of people’s computer habits has revealed that 29 per cent of those living in the West Midlands now have internet access – an increase of nine per cent.

In the UK as a whole 8 million people have access. More than half of all adults have gone on-line at some point in the last three months, and over 80 per cent of 16-24-year-olds use the internet.

But contrary to last year, the amount of people buying new machines has fallen at PC World.

Managers are hoping that people will come in after Christmas. Instead of the machines being bought as a present for an individual, purchasing of PCs tends to be a decision involving the whole family.

Steve Martin, manager at PC World in London Road, said it had been “very quiet” this year compared to last year.

He said he believed there were a number of reasons for this, including a wider range of places where people could buy computers.

But he said the speed with which machines became outdated was also putting people off:

He said:

”People are getting a bit fed up with the computer industry because you have to upgrade so much. People’s awareness is a lot greater now and they will shop around more and wait until they can buy the exact thing that they want.

“Our sale starts on Boxing Day and we are hoping that people will start to come in more then.”