A new social networking-cum-local directory service has been launched for UK urbanites.

Tipped invites members to recommend local businesses and services with personal reviews. It has a mobile equivalent, Tipped.mobi, so that it can be accessed via a mobile browser.

The service is free to users and will be funded by advertising. Initial funding is from its founder Joel Brazil, ex-head of Microsoft UK's mobile services division.

The social networking element allows users to search on friends' tips and those of friends of friends. Tipped currently boasts 4,000 unique users who signed up to the beta test and by word of mouth.

"From florists to mechanics, nightclubs to solicitors, Tipped can help users make informed choices even when on the move," the company says.

But, of course, the service is only as comprehensive as the number of people who subscribe, and reflects their lifestyles.

For example, searches conducted at 17.00 on Thursday 5 September found 25 restaurants in Camden.

But searches for bookshops in Deptford, solicitors in Lewisham and accountants in Thamesmead (online card fraud hotspot of the UK) all yielded no results.

A search for florists in Kensington provided 16 businesses, but none at all in New Cross.