BRISTLING with indignation, couples in Brighton have contradicted a new study which claims more than nine in ten women do not like men with beards.

Half of women surveyed told a cosmetics firm they preferred their other halves clean-shaven, with 94 per cent saying they would avoid kissing a man with a full beard.

But on the streets of Brighton - dubbed the beard capital of the country by the British Beard Club - The Argus could only find women happy with their hirsute hubbies and bearded boyfriends.

Anne Carpenter has been married to furry-faced husband John, both from Brighton, for 54 years. She said: "I've got used to it, although it does change a lot.

"He can get up in the morning with a full beard and by the time he's had a bath and come downstairs, it's a different shape,"

John said of the survey: "I don't believe that figure, I think women just want a man to be neat and tidy. And some women like being tickled."

Abby Hunter's boyfriend Kieran Masterson, on holiday in Brighton from Australia, has been growing his fair facial hair for around six months because "he can't be bothered shaving".

Abby, 23, told The Argus: "I don't mind it as long as it's not too long. He was baby-faced when we met, but actually I prefer him like this, he looks like a baby without it.

Sarah Mansbridge, 51, from Brighton said: "What total rubbish - I think it's gorgeous. Although I did buy my husband a trimmer for Christmas, actually I bought him two. Because he can be a bit lazy.

"You're not going to like a guy or not like him because he's got a beard. It's like a guy saying he'd only like a woman if she had short hair or long hair."

Her husband Trevor said: "She fancied me with a beard when we got married last year, so I think I'm okay."

The study, by cosmetics company My Aesthetics, also said big sideburns were a turn-off and that itchiness and scruffiness were the main reasons women preferred their men clean shaven.

But in contrast, even the impressively bushy beard sported by administrator Josh Paull is not enough for him and his girlfriend Emma McCarthy, both from Brighton.

He said: "About two years it's been like this. It's just kind of stopped growing which is sad - I was looking to get it like ZZ Top, but it's not going to happen."

She agreed: "I'm a little bit sad too, I really like it. I haven't always liked beards but it really suits him, it's much better than no beard."

Trevor Packer, 39, from the British Beard Club which is headquartered in Brighton said: "I think Brighton is probably the beard capital of the country, certainly outside London."