VOTER apathy is set to reach record levels in the general election, mainly because people are fed up with political spin, a new report claims.

Research among 3,000 people showed one in four may not vote, rising to one in three among those aged between 25 and 34.

Two out of three said the main reason was that they did not trust politicians and a similar number believed election manifestos were based on "fiction", not fact.

Prime Minister Tony Blair fared particularly badly, with just 14% of those polled believing he was honest.

The Iraq war was one of the reasons given, with 54% of those questioned saying that the so-called "dodgy dossier" was the most serious act of political dishonesty ever - way ahead of the USA's Watergate scandal or Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky.

Politicians were named the biggest liars, ahead of estate agents or car salesmen.

More than half of people said Labour lied the most out of the three political parties, with the Liberal Democrats considered the most honest.

The survey was by Cornwall-based piemaker Ginsters, which advertises "real honest food".