Children from St Albans would most like to share their Christmas dinner with Harry Potter and football legend David Beckham, while just 1 per cent would opt to have Prime Minister David Cameron at their festive table.

New research, released today by Table Table, suggests nearly a third would choose to eat their Christmas dinner with the fictional wizard over any other celebrity name.

The study found that boys had a more highbrow choice in dinner guests, with them being twice as likely than girls to choose to eat with theoretical physicist Albert Einstein and South African politician Nelson Mandela.

On the contrary, girls would rather pull a cracker with Hollywood heart-throb Zac Efron (22 per cent) and One Direction star Harry Styles (19 per cent).

Jack Morris, 13, from St Albans said there would be no point having dinner with David Cameron because he would be 'boring'.

He said: "I would definitely rather eat dinner with David Beckham and Harry Potter - they are both legends. Spending Christmas with the Prime Minister would be boring and we wouldn't have much to talk about."

The study asked 1,000 children aged between six and 16 about Christmas.

Other fictional characters also proved a popular choice, with Peppa Pig and The Gruffalo beating the likes of Olympic medalist Jessica Ennis and X Factor judge Simon Cowell to a space at the Christmas table. 

The survey also highlights what part of Christmas day children most look forward to.

Three quarters said opening presents is their favourite part of the day and, when it comes to the dinner table, more prefer pigs in blankets to turkey.