Consumers spent £20m more on DIY during the two weeks around the May 27 bank holiday than they did last year.
Latest research from GfK also found that an additional £50m was spent year-on-year around the fortnight of the earlier May bank holiday, with the garden sector posting particularly positive numbers.

Over 40% value growth was achieved by decorative garden finishes and water-based treatments; growing media increased 14%; plants, seeds and bulbs rose 20%; fertilisers were up 32%; and lawnmowers rose 33%.

Value sales of paint and power tools also grew, by 5% and 20% respectively, indicating that consumers also used this time to undertake a number of projects.

Simon Foy, account director at GfK, commented: "The figures do show some positive trends, which not only highlights the continued importance of the May bank holidays as a key DIY trading period, but will also help to make the year-to-date comparisons to May much more favourable than the year to April for the garden sector.

"Particularly looking at the early May bank holiday, garden sectors led the way, with total garden up 64%.This is linked to the better weather experienced this year versus last year, plus likely pent-up demand due to the cold start to this year."