Recent wet and windy weather has put a dampener on consumer spending despite the heroics of Batman Vs Superman causing a surge in cinema ticket sales according to new figures.

Consumer spending growth slowed to just 1.6pc in March, its lowest level in two years, as consumers reined in purchases in nearly all categories, according to data from Barclaycard.

Spending on women's clothing spend fell 1.2pc in March (down -1.9% in the East of England) and family clothing flatlined at 0pc (-1.0% East of England), as a wet and windy start to the month discouraged shoppers from updating their wardrobes for spring.

Garden centres also suffered from the unsettled weather with spending growth falling 3.5pc year-on-year (2.8% East of England). Travel spending slowed to 0.8pc from 5.1pc in February, which saw a pre-Easter spike in bookings. Cinema spend was the star performer, climbing 12.8pc (20.3% East of England), helped by the release of Batman v. Superman and the continuing popularity of Zoolander No. 2 and Deadpool.

The figure marked the third successive month of a spending slump and dragged down overall growth for the first three months of the year to 2.8pc – the worst performance in seven quarters.

With the long Easter weekend at the end of the month, it said people were prompted to entertain at home, pushing supermarket spending up 2pc (0.9pc East of England), the strongest rate of growth in 14 months. Barclaycard research found people are increasingly compartmentalising their regular grocery shopping, with one in two (51pc) using a combination of discount and mainstream stores to get the best deals on their weekly shop.

Consumer thriftiness comes as households face a challenging economic landscape. Only one in three (34pc) Brits feel upbeat about the UK economy, fewer than at any time since Barclaycard began collecting this data in Q3 2014.

This may be why nearly one in two (47pc) say they have been more cautious with their spending during the past few months, reflected in Barclaycard data which saw non-essential spending grow at 2.0pc in March – the lowest rate in more than two years.

Subdued wage growth is also having an impact on consumers' outlook. Average real earnings are about 6pc below their 2008 level and just one in four (26pc) is confident that their personal spending power will rise during the rest of the year.

Rob Harris, managing director, personal and corporate banking, Eastern Region said: 'Since the turn of the year we have seen a steady fall in the rate of spending growth, but the continuing impact of global economic headwinds and an uncertain outlook really caught up with consumer spending in March. Spend on non-essential items grew at the slowest rate since 2014, while the emerging trend for compartmentalisation in the weekly shop, with people willing to mix and match between discount stores and more established high street retailers, suggests shoppers continue to place a premium on value for money.

'Some sectors did show encouraging signs, however – notably entertainment and leisure – as consumers continued to spend on experiences, often with loved ones or their families. Looking ahead, it'll be interesting to see whether shoppers continue this trend, particularly if confidence in the economy continues to wane.'

• The spend data in this release relates to the period 21 February 2016 to 26 March 2016. It is compared with 22 February 2015 to 28 March 2015.

The consumer confidence survey was carried out between 18 and 22 March 2016 by Longitude Research on behalf of Barclaycard. There were 2,073 respondents, providing a representative sample of UK consumers by age, gender, region, income group, professional status and family situation.