JUST before the old rivals go head-to-head on the football pitch, Ipswich has been beaten by Norwich.The competition was a national on-line battle of brainpower and, although the winning margin was only 1 per cent, Town fans will be hoping it isn't a bad omen for Saturday's derby.

JUST before the old rivals go head-to-head on the football pitch, Ipswich has been beaten by Norwich.

The competition was a national on-line battle of brainpower and, although the winning margin was only one per cent, Town fans will be hoping it is not a bad omen for tomorrow's derby.

More than 20,000 families across the country took part in a quiz run by Microsoft Windows XP, believed to be the biggest ever of its kind.

They each answered ten general knowledge questions in the fastest possible time.

The questions were pitched at different levels so the whole family could take part.

The research placed families from Ipswich in 18th place, with an average success rate of 54 per cent. That was 1pc and four places behind those from Norwich.

Results showed the most knowledgeable families were found in Brighton, where the average score was 87pc.

Wolverhampton slumped to the bottom of the regional league table with just 36pc. Cambridge was just one place above "Britain's least intelligent town" with 49pc.

Analysis of the quiz results revealed Britons' strengths and weaknesses in their general knowledge, with contestants achieving the most correct answers in science (77pc) compared to 68pc in sport.

Entertainment questions produced the lowest number of correct answers, just 58pc. Families from Ipswich managed a success rate of just 39pc in that subject.

Science was the top-scoring subject in both Norwich (71pc) and Ipswich (69pc).

Educational psychologist Dr David Lewis said: "Given the current trends in human behaviour you could be forgiven for assuming that the average person's general knowledge would consist mainly of sport and entertainment. It's very encouraging to see that these results refute that."