More than three in ten (31 per cent) people are stashing money away to pay for a break, while a further 30 per cent are putting their savings into a rainy-day fund to cover unexpected expenses.

A fifth (21 per cent) are saving towards Christmas, 20 per cent for home improvements, and 19 per cent to go travelling when the world opens up from the pandemic, Yorkshire Building Society found.

However, despite an increase in the number of people saving during the Covid crisis, more than one in ten (11 per cent) UK adults feel they are unable to save towards anything at the moment as their finances are squeezed by the increased cost of living crisis, the research said.

Tina Hughes, director of savings at Yorkshire Building Society, said: “As this new research highlights it is great that some people are managing to save and interesting that the top thing that they are saving for at the moment is to go on holiday as the world begins to open up from the pandemic.

“It is also great to see that people are saving towards a rainy day fund as this last year and a bit has shown the real need for emergency savings for people.

“However, it is also a stark reality that a tenth of people feel unable to save anything at all.”