The bank holiday weekend saw a rise in the number of people visiting retailers, but there are warnings about the impact higher living costs will have on businesses.

Research from Springboard, which monitors footfall to shops, reveals that in the East of England there was a 3.5pc increase in shoppers compared to the week before.

Across the entire UK, high streets saw the biggest jump in retail visits, increasing by 29.5pc week-on-week, followed by shopping centres with a 15.9pc rise. Retail parks, however, saw a fall by 2.9pc.

KPMG, an international firm that provides a wide range of services for businesses, has also noted a rise in retail visits, but its economics forecast a slowdown in the UK's annual consumption growth, from 6.2pc in 2021 to 4.3pc in 2022 and 0.5pc in 2023.

The organisation states that lower-income households are particularly vulnerable to this year's rise in utility costs, with households at the bottom end of the income distribution potentially standing to lose more than 8pc of their total disposable income during this year from the combined April and October 2022 energy price cap increases.

Joe Faulkner, head of KPMG's Norwich practice, said: “Despite the headlines, we have been seeing increased footfall to bricks and mortar retailers and people are choosing to spend more time in physical retail as they enjoy the freedom of being able to get out to high streets following two years of restrictions.

"Those with savings accumulated during lockdown are using them to continue to spend and many consumers haven’t yet had to take action, as the cost of living rises are yet to fully bite.

"With a large and diverse range of independent retailers across many of its towns, and in Norwich in particular, Norfolk is well placed as a destination for shoppers. Of course, a key question for retailers for the remainder of 2022 is as costs continue to rise, how many consumers will remain able and willing to spend on the high street?”