The advent of "e-communication" has passed too many MPs by, a report issued on Wednesday warned.

Bournemouth Media School lecturer Nigel Jackson found that the majority of email traffic to MPs was incoming, and that many members have yet to gauge the campaigning benefits of sending regular electronic updates to constituents.

The prevalence of electronic junk mail, or "spam", has been cited by many MPs as a reason why they ignore their email.

Over 50 per cent of the MPs questioned said their in boxes were half-full of co-ordinated campaign releases from lobby groups. In contrast, nearly 90 per cent of respondents said they received less than 100 emails a week from constituents.

Jackson suggested that junk mail could put MPs off using email.

"MPs represent their constituents but it is non-constituents who appear to be making most use of email to contact MPs," he said.

The importance of "e-lobbying" has grown in recent years as groups seek to disseminate their messages outside of the mainstream media. Back in February the email communications of Capitol Hill were brought to a standstill by a "virtual march" to protest about the war in Iraq.

Many MPs feel that any growth in "spam" will stretch their resources to the point where constituent emails go unanswered, with a significant minority of 29.9 per cent of respondents to the survey complaining that email has not helped them provide a better service for constituents.

Jackson argues that despite these fears MPs need to learn from businesses and harness the power of e-communication.

"Inbound email from constituents and pressure groups far outweighs the amount of outbound email from MPs to constituents," he said.

"Email, particularly regular newsletters, is successfully used in business for marketing and to build relationships," Jackson added.

"MPs, however, have not yet switched on to the potential email offers, very few are using it in order to win votes."