The results bring a ray of hope to beleagured British retailers who fear for their festive trade after a widespread drop in sales in recent months.

The survey, by credit card provider Goldfish, shows consumers intend to spend an average of £570 on the festive season this year - £130 more than last Christmas.

Men spend more per present

Respondents said they planned to spend more on presents, celebrations and personal spending through December and January.

An average of £155 will be put aside by consumers for for spending on themselves in the Christmas sales, the survey showed. If this figure is met, it would be an £80 increase on last year.

Sixty percent of the £25bn expected in UK Christmas spending will be in cash or on debit card with the rest on credit card, the survey showed.

The generous male

It also considered who will be spending what and where.

On average, men plan to buy 10 presents worth £28 each and will spend more on their partner, while women will buy 13 presents at £20 each.

The research shows people in the Midlands will spend least on Christmas presents (£244) while those on the south coast are the most generous, intending to spend £294.

The West Country will see the biggest parties with £187 spent per head on celebrations, with Yorkshire having the quietest Christmas, shelling out £119 on parties and drinks.

The Welsh will spend the most chasing bargains in the January sales, almost £175 each.

Around the clock

Meanwhile, supermarket chain Tesco has announced another 17 of its stores will begin 24-hour trading from Monday.

This takes to 81 the number of its stores trading around the clock as the company tries to exploit the Christmas period to offset the effects of the sales fall-off around the country.

Tesco said 3m people shopped through the night during the festive season last year after it increased its number of 24-hour stores.