It's official: if you want to extract a woman's phone number, then picking the right soundtrack for the attempt will significantly increase your chances of scoring.

That's according to French psychologists, who found that an "average-looking man" doubled his chances of success when the object of his desire had been softened up with a "romantic ballad", as opposed to a "neutral" ditty.

The Telegraph explains that the team from the University of southern Brittany and the University of southern Paris tried out their chat-up line on 87 female volunteers aged 18 to 20.

They first spent five minutes in a waiting room listening either to Je L'aime a Mourir (I Love Her to Death) by Francis Cabrel, or L'heure du The (Time For Tea) by Vincent Delerm.

Thinking they were taking part in a consumer survey, they then moved to a different room to "discuss the difference between two types of biscuit with the 20-year-old man".

After the pair had chewed over the comparative merits of the biscuits, the man pitched: "My name is Antoine, as you know. I think you are very nice and I was wondering if you would give me your phone number. I'll phone you later and we can have a drink together somewhere next week."

The researchers asked Antoine to "to gaze and smile at the participant" while she mulled her response.

The result was that 52.2 per cent of those who'd been wooed with Je L'aime a Mourir agreed to the liaison, compared to just 27.9 per cent who'd been offered L'heure du The.

The scientists conclude in the journal Psychology of Music: "It was found that women previously exposed to romantic lyrics complied with the request more readily than women exposed to the neutral ones. The difference was significant. If you're having trouble getting a date, picking the right soundtrack could improve the odds."

And in case the chaps out there think it's just women who can be manipulated by mush music, the researchers previously demonstrated that "men spent more money in florists when romantic music was being played". ®