Using a mobile phone does not increase the risk of a brain tumour, a study has found.

UK researchers studied 2,782 people across the UK and found no link between the risk of glioma - the most common type of brain tumour - and regular mobile phone use.

They also found no connection between the risk of glioma and the length of time a person had been using a mobile phone or the length of calls made.

The study did find a significant increase in glioma on the side of the head where people held the phone. However, this was mirrored by a decrease in the risk on the opposite side of the head making it difficult to interpret as a real effect.

"This finding may be due to people with glioma brain tumours linking mobile phone use to the side of the tumour and therefore over reporting the use of a phone on the same side as their tumour. This results in under reporting use on the opposite side of the head," said lead researcher Professor Patricia McKinney from Leeds University.

The research team questioned 966 people diagnosed with glioma and 1,716 without the disease between 2000 and 2004.

They were asked about how long and often they used their phone, the type of phone they used, the extent of hands-free use and other factors that might affect their risk of glioma.

Mobile phones have been available in the UK since 1985, but widespread use did not begin until the late 1990s.

An estimated 4,000 new cases of brain tumours are diagnosed in the UK each year.

The study was conducted by the Universities of Leeds, Nottingham and Manchester and the Institute of Cancer Research.

The findings are published in the British Medical Journal.