Today might not be a good time to air that little something that's niggling you about your spouse.

For a national survey has discovered more couples split up during January than any other time of the year - with January 12 identified as the day it's most likely to happen.

Worryingly, Brummies were found to be more likely to throw in the towel this month than people anywhere else in the country.

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The high proportion of relationship bust-ups today has prompted online dating service Yahoo! Personals, which conducted the survey, to label it National Break Up Day.

The most common reason for people in Birmingham to split was that their partner did not fit into their overall "life plan", with two thirds citing this as the problem.

Almost a third claim they had conflicting views about the future.

Brummies were less likely to be influenced by friends and family to break up than people elsewhere.

The light-hearted survey of 1,700 people carried out in the week before Christmas also revealed a "better-the-devil-you-know" attitude among people in Birmingham.

More than a quarter said they remained with their partner out of fear that they were unlikely to find someone better.

More than a third simply could not be bothered to leave, claiming it was too complicated.

But Scots were the most likely to take the plunge and split from an unsuitable partner.