IT may come as no surprise to you ladies out there, but British men have become so useless at positioning curtain poles and figuring out flat-pack furniture, that women now account for more than half of the 18 to 34-year-olds carrying out home improvements.

To cater for this growing trend, a Cardiff businesswoman, Caroline Barnett-Phillips, is launching tool parties in the spring to persuade even more British girls to get to grips with a grouting gun.

She has spent two years negotiating to launch the UK franchise of an American company called Tomboy Tools into Britain's DIY market, which is worth an amazing £12bn a year.

Among the products she is hoping will tempt women into building up their own tool box is a stylish electric blue cordless drill designed specially to fit a female hand.

But it seems many Worcestershire women are already self-confessed DIY divas.

Veronica Skye, of Pinkett Street, Worcester, has been carrying out her own DIY for the past 10 years.

"I started doing odd jobs around the house like stripping walls and painting because my husband at the time worked long hours and it was the only way for things to get done," she said. "Then we got divorced and I bought my own house in 2003 which needed completely redecorating.

"The first job was to strip six layers of Anaglypta off the walls - this resulted in some of the plaster coming off and revealed about 50 holes where rawl plugs had been."

But instead of reaching for the Yellow Pages, Veronica headed down to the DIY shop and filled her trolley with skimming plaster and the necessary tools she needed to tackle the job herself.

And she hasn't looked back since.

The 40-year-old PA has since stripped the walls and painted the house throughout, put up shelves, re-plastered a wall in her cellar, and fitted new skirting board, wooden panelling and a dado rail in her kitchen.

"Handy Andy has been my biggest inspiration - I used to watch his tips on GMTV before work," she said.

"And they must have worked as, so far, I've never had a disaster.

"Next on the list is fitting laminate flooring in my hall, and decking the garden."

Dave Crockford, manager of Homebase in Hylton Road, said his target customers were now women aged between 20 and 45.

"Loads of women come in on their own now and I'd say that in 80 per cent of the cases it is for paint.

"Women are much better at picturing a finished room and tend to come in to co-ordinate rooms - our paint mixing service is particularly popular."

Eddie Kerr, manager of Brandon Tool Hire on Worcester Trading Estate in Blackpole, said women were getting to grips with everything from sanding floors to rotivating their own gardens and mixing cement.

"It's still a very much a male orientated business but with the rise of property developing programmes, women do come in and hire all sorts of equipment," he said.

"We always go out of our way to help and make our female customers feel comfortable."

VERONICA'S DO-IT-YOURSELF TIPS

l Always have the right tools for the job as this saves time and helps get the work done quickly and efficiently - a wire/pipe/power detector and spirit level are essential.

l If you rub Vaseline into your hands before painting, any spills or splashes will wash off easily with warm water and soap.

l If you have a large area to paint and don't have a paintbrush/ roller try a sponge.

l If you place an elastic band around the base of paintbrush bristles this will stop paint running down the handle. If you place an elastic band around the bristles then you can 'cut in' around the windows and tighter areas.

l If you have to plaster a small area of wall, use a mist spray to dampen the surface first as it will help the plaster mix to stick.

l Before drilling, mark the spot with a little masking tape - this stops the drill bit from sliding off the spot. If you also tape an envelope just below the area you drill, this will catch the dust, meaning less mess to clear up.