Blondes may have more fun but redheads are less likely to feel pain, according to a British study.

For reasons that have yet to be understood, women with red hair appear to be more resistant to pain compared with other women.

The Medical Research Council's Human Genetics Unit in Edinburgh will probe the preliminary findings.

One of the aims is to see if there is mechanism at work in redheads that can be adapted to help in developing new pain-killers and anaesthetics, said Professor Ian Jackson.

Studies on "redhead" mice which have blond fur but carry a similar gene to the one that causes red hair in humans is helping the scientists target the pain-reducing mechanism.