Northumberland's evening meal is officially teatime as hundreds vote in our poll

We decided to answer the age-old question once and for all and asked you: “An evening meal has different meanings across the UK, with half of people calling it 'dinner', and almost as many describing it as 'tea', according to a new study. What's it called in your house?”

More than 790 people voted and the answer was a landslide, with a whopping 74 per cent (quite rightly) saying the answer was ‘Tea.’

Comments on our Facebook page left little doubt where loyalties lay.

Joanna Lisa Todd was in two minds: “If you have a large, main meal in the middle of the day, it's called dinner and in the evening you'll have a light meal called tea but if you have a light meal in the middle of the day, it's lunch and in the evening you have your large, main meal, it's dinner.

“The main meal of the day is 'dinner' whenever it's served.”

Philip Truitt brought a trans-Atlantic perspective to matters: “Here in Georgia, USA, if we do a tea, it's typically between 3pm and 5pm. The evening meal is supper, unless it's a special or formal occasion, then it's called dinner.

“I don't care what we call it, as long as I get to eat!”

Karen Ball laid down the law: “Lunch at midday, tea is a light meal ie sandwiches served round 4-5pm and dinner is a proper meal served round about 6pm.”