Margaret Thatcher was famously said to get by on just four hours' sleep.
And half of Britons now say they regularly survive on the same amount – with more than four in ten getting less than three hours.
Researchers surveyed 2,000 adults and discovered the majority are not getting the amount of sleep needed to function properly.
They found the average person is running on just six hours and 50 minutes, well below the eight-hour minimum recommended by the NHS.
This results in a sleep deficit of 426 hours every year, the equivalent of 18 full days' worth of sleep.
