'Home Alone' has been crowned as Britain's favourite Christmas film of all time.

The 1990 festive flick that stars Macaulay Culkin topped the poll with 35 per cent of the vote, with 'Elf' (26 per cent) and 'Love Actually' (23 per cent) following in second and third respectively.

The new research by Virgin Media 02 found that 'Die Hard' came in fourth with 21 per cent of the vote and animated favourite 'The Snowman' was fifth with 20 per cent.

The study found that Brits will watch an average of eight Christmas films during the festive period this year – with seven in 10 (79 per cent) taking seasonal flicks even more seriously and watching up to 15 Yuletide movies.

Despite the love for festive films, more than a quarter of those polled (27 per cent) admitted to arguing with their family about what to watch.

The research has been commissioned to launch Virgin Media O2's 'What Should I Watch?' platform – an interactive TV and film recommendation tool that helps to speed up decision making when choosing what to watch.

Simon Groves, Director of Brand and Marketing at Virgin Media O2, said: "This Christmas is set to see us watching more TV than ever, with a star-studded line up of favourite films to enjoy – but despite all this choice, it still seems deciding what to watch can take us quite some time.

"Our 'What Should I Watch?' platform has been designed to help save on time spent surfing TV channels by bringing the nation's most popular films and TV shows together in one place, helping TV fans find the right genre, for the right mood, in minutes."

The nation's top 10 Christmas films as voted for in research by Virgin Media O2:

1. 'Home Alone'

2. 'Elf'

3. 'Love Actually'

4. 'Die Hard'

5. 'The Snowman'

6. 'It's A Wonderful Life'

7. 'Miracle on 34th Street'

8. 'Home Alone 2: Lost in New York'

9. 'A Christmas Carol'

10. 'The Muppet Christmas Carol'