Female consumers might wish to recycle their old mobile phones for an internet-enabled model after a study revealed that more and more women are using their handsets to access the web.

According to figures from Opera, women accounted for just 16.6 per cent of those using the mobile internet in May 2008.

However, a recent study has showed that this number had gone up to 31.5 per cent by July 2010.

A similar trend was also identified in many other nations, including Russia, China, the US, Ukraine and South Africa.

Jon von Tetzchner, co-founder of Opera Software, commented: "Seeing more women on the mobile web is important to ensuring the mobile web remains the rich tapestry of ideas it is.

"Further diversity can only improve things for everyone."

This comes after a separate study by Opera found that mobile phone users are most likely to access the web on their handsets between 22:00 and midnight.