The TV stops working at 7pm and smoke detectors are Santa's spy cameras - the hilarious lies told to kids by parents revealed

But modern parents have some new lies up their sleeves as well, including ‘the car won’t drive if all the seat belts aren’t buckled’, ‘swearing is illegal’, the television stops working after 7pm, ‘smoke alarms are Father Christmas’s spy cameras’ and ‘the police can see everything you search for on Google’.

The research, by children’s snacking brand Kiddylicious, found that many of the porkies we tell our little ones involve food, with the old fashioned myth that eating carrots will make you see in the dark STILL topping the list of parental fibs.

While almost a quarter of parents of kids aged three to seven have persuaded their offspring that broccoli are baby trees, and 15 percent insist that if their children eat spinach, they’ll grow up to be a superhero.

‘Eating crusts will make your hair go curly’, ‘if you swallow an apple pip, a tree will grow in your tummy’, ‘if you eat chocolate before bed you’ll have nightmares’ and ‘chocolate milk comes from brown cows’ also featured.

And a number of mums and dads regularly pretend to have run out of crisps and biscuits when their child pleads for something to eat between meals.

In fact, the study found that parents were most likely to fib about food and mealtimes compared to other challenging situations such as bedtimes and getting ready for nursery or school.

Overall, a staggering 94 per cent of the 2,000 parents polled said they had told white lies to their kids which their little ones believed to be true, with the average mum and dad telling five porkie pies a week.

The main reason parents fib, according to the data, was to encourage their children to do something that was good for them, while others said it was to encourage good behaviour.

And four in 10 of parents said they tell fibs to make life a bit more fun.

A pragmatic 31 per cent tell their kids white lies to avoid tantrums and arguments, and a nostalgic 21 per cent do so as their own parents told them the same stories when they were little.

The study also found that 61 percent of the parents polled admitted they’d been caught out telling a white lie to their kids in the past.

And the data found that the average age our little angels stop believing everything we tell them is six years old.

THE TOP 40 LIES PARENTS TELL THEIR KIDS

Eating carrots help you see in the dark - 39%

We’re almost there (when asked ‘are we nearly there yet’ on a road trip) - 36%

If you watch TV for too long, your eyes will go square - 31%

If you’ve been naughty, Father Christmas will fill your stocking with coal - 31%

If you tell a lie, your nose will grow longer - 29%

I go to bed straight after you do - 29%

We’ve run out of biscuits - 28%

I can’t find my mobile phone so you can’t play with it - 23%

Broccoli are baby trees - 23%

If the wind changes while you are pulling a funny face, it’ll stay that way - 21%

The ice cream van plays music when it runs out of ice cream - 18%

If you eat the crusts of your toast, your hair will grow curly - 18%

If you do a wee in a swimming pool, the water will turn bright green - 17%

If you cross your eyes they’ll stay that way - 16%

Eating spinach will turn you into a superhero - 15%

The car won’t drive if all the seatbelts aren’t buckled up - 15%

A swallowed apple pip will mean an apple tree grows in your stomach - 14%

Smoke alarms are Father Christmas’s spy cameras - 14%

The tooth fairy is only strong enough to carry 50p to put under your pillow - 14%

If you don’t clean behind your ears, potatoes will grow there - 13%

Swearing is illegal - 13%

They don’t sell replacement batteries for that (noisy) toy - 12%

The police can see everything you search on Google - 12%

If you eat chocolates from your advent calendar before the right day, Christmas will be cancelled - 11%

If you eat chocolate before bed, you’ll get nightmares - 11%

I’m eating salad (when you’re actually chewing a sweet or chocolate) -11%

Strawberries and raspberries are nature’s sweets - 11%

The television stops working after 7pm - 10%

If you say ‘I don’t believe in fairies’, a fairy will die - 10%

The fish is sleeping (when the fish has died) - 10%

The internet gets turned off at 7pm every night - 10%

If you pick your nose, your eyes will fall out - 9%

If you keep your eyes open when you sneeze, your eyeballs will fall out - 8%

The cat went to live on a farm with other cats (when the cat has died) - 8%

If you stick your tongue out, it will fall off - 8%

If you tell a lie, a red spot will appear on your forehead - 8%

You have to whisper in a library so you don’t wake the books up - 8%

If you play too many computer games, the characters will get tired - 8%

Chocolate milk comes from brown cows - 6%

Hummus is unicorn food - 4%