Specialist website, Vansunited.co.uk has found that females make up a third of the 3.2m entrepreneurs in the UK and over a third of van owners are now women with the new breed labelled "vantrepreneurs" - signifying a considerable shift in the number of women using commercial vehicles to further their careers.

In the South West 15 per cent of van purchases are made by women com pared to 14 per cent i n London, the next highest. The lowest number of female van buyers is found in the north east where the figure falls to 4 per cent.

Across the UK younger females - 25 to 35 years old - were found to be more forthright than their older peers.

Fifty-three per cent of vantrepre neurs' are self-employed, compared with 44 per cent of their male coun terparts.

Delivery is one of the top five profes sional uses of vans for both men and women.

The statistics highlight florists, gar deners, beauticians and hairdressers and dog groomers at the top of the list of professions in this sector.

Katie Armitage, marketing manager of Vansunuted.co.uk said: "We've noted an increase of female users on the website. Women are having a big ger impact on the van-driving small businesses community and it's now impossible to ignore the fact that van-girl power' is hitting the high ways at quite a speed."