NEARLY a third of Britons are still investing in the stock market despite three years of poor performance, according to new research.

But nine out of ten people said they saw shares as a long-term investment, rather than a way to make a quick profit, according to NatWest Stockbrokers.

A third of those questioned said they were happy to risk stock market volatility in order to invest in shares, while ten per cent said their share portfolio accounted for more than half of their savings.

Overall, 15 per cent of those who invested in shares had an average of between £1,000 and £5,000 in the market, while 11 per cent had between £5,000 and £10,000 invested, although 35 per cent admitted they did not know how much money they had put in.

The most popular way of holding shares was through an equity ISA, with 55 per cent of people saying this was how they invested in the market, while 38 per cent of people bought and sold shares themselves, 25 per cent saved through company schemes and 21 per cent acquired shares through building society windfalls. People in the South-East and Yorkshire and Humberside were the most likely to invest in the stock market, with 36 per cent holding shares.

People in the West Midlands were the biggest investors, with nearly 40 per cent of those who traded in the market investing more than £5,000, and ten per cent having more than £40,000 invested.

Scots were most likely to see the stock market as a way to make a quick profit, while those in East Anglia were much more likely to see it as a long-term investment.

Bob Hamilton, of NatWest Stockbrokers, said: "Investing in the stock market is clearly still a popular way to save and with the market picking up again, we may see more and more people either coming back to the market or going into it for the first time."