Nearly three-quarters of British adults have admitted they have experienced bad luck on Friday 13ths, which does not bode well for the rest of today.

Hotel chain Travelodge found that 74 per cent of 2,500 people surveyed said they had fallen foul of the day.

This year there are two Fridays, including today, that fall on the 13th of the month.

A fear of Friday the 13th is known as triskaidekaphobia.

Other findings from the Travelodge survey included that half of British adults believe in the power of lucky numbers and will always use their lucky number to get ahead in life.

Forty per cent of people said they were superstitious and woudl take some sort of proactive attention today to avoid any form of bad luck coming their way.

This includes: 

  •            Not travelling as they fear they could be involved in an accident or long delays
  •            Rescheduling an important meeting to avoid the wrong outcome
  •            Rescheduling their dentist appointment
  •            Avoid making a big purchase like a car
  •            Keeping away from mirrors and ladders

Chinese customers staying at Travelodge hotels often request not to be placed in the fourth floor or in a room with a number four, because in Mandarin the number four sounds too similar to the word death.

Travelodge spokeswoman Shakila Ahmed said: "Our research shows that Britons certainly believe in the power of numbers and will use their lucky number to get ahead in life and avoid the number 13 at all costs.

"Across our network of 532 UK hotels we have a large number of regular business customers who always request the same room number.”