As millions of people in China are preparing to head home for Chinese New Year, many young men are turning to apps to hire a girlfriend to take home with them.

During the Lunar New Year period, single people are often subjected to pressure from relatives who are keen to secure the family blood line.Apps have now been invented that mean that men can hire girlfriends and give themselves some respite from family questioning over the festive period.

Thanks to an increase in people using their smartphones, an app named Hire Me Plz has been created to help men look for fake girlfriends.

Single men are able to hire girlfriends for as little as 1 yuan (12p) to 1,999 yuan (£230) an hour.

However during Chinese New Year prices can surge to up to 10,000 yuan (£1,154) a day.

24-year-old Luoluo is one of the women on the app to offer a fake girlfriend service. She says: 'I'm still seeking people to fill my time slots.'

She has just two-and-a-half days left to fill out of a week long slot.Hire Me Plz has proved popular. Cao Tiantian, founder of the app said: "Over 1,000 users on our platform have signed up as dates for hire for the New Year break.'