£140,000 spent on 'pockets' study

A UK government quango has been accused of "totally wasting" public funds after it spent £140,000 on a study into the history of pockets.

The three-year study at the University of Southampton was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).

The study, carried out at the Winchester School of Art and Textiles, was aimed at exploring the history of the tie-on pocket - worn by women under their petticoats or aprons from the late 17th Century.

The aim was to "bring them back into the public consciousness and to understand more clearly what they meant to the women who wore them".