"The traditional British bank holiday activities will be ever popular, we expect that an additional £125m could be spent on alcohol and food this weekend alone," said Richard Greenwood, author of the report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research.

"DIY, gardening and home improvements are also popular pastimes and we expect £400m to be spent on them over the weekend," he added.

But the report warned that consumer spending is expected to slow, as the falls in the stock market "inevitably impact" spending.

"There seems to be further evidence that the consumer boom, which has been largely sustaining economic growth, may be finally starting to cool off," Mr Greenwood said.

Spending slows

His assertion is borne out by figures released last week from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

They showed that spending in UK shops has grown at its slowest rate for 18 months.

Retail sales were 0.3% higher in July than in June.

They were 4.5% higher than they were a year before.

That rate of increase is the slowest since January 2001, when sales increased by 3.9%.