Would I Lie to You?, Charles and Eddie (pictured) once asked. Well, if they’d been singing to solicitors, there’s every chance it wouldn’t have mattered. The University of Central Lancashire has revealed that 95% of solicitors think they are better at detecting deception than they really are.

A survey, definitely not designed to gain a free plug for the university’s new course on legal deception, dear me, no, perish the thought, asked 100 north-west solicitors to spot a lie from a truth. Despite their self-assurance, less than half of the tested lawyers accurately picked out fibs in test cases. Senior lecturer Sandi Mann said: ‘Detecting deception in the legal profession is a real worry and with the survey we saw first hand how difficult the professionals found it to spot.’