Britons made 870 million day trips in England during 2005, giving local tourism an estimated boost of around £37.4bn.

According to Natural England's Leisure Visits Survey, spending on day trips has risen by 21 per cent since 2003 - despite a 5 per cent decline in the trips taken - with city and town destinations attracting 77 per cent of overall domestic travel.

On average, each day trip lasts for five hours and a quarter of respondents to the survey said eating or drinking out was their main activity undertaken on the trip.

Tom Wright, chief executive of VisitBritain, said: “Day trips in England are an important part of our visitor economy. The new survey reflects the changing nature of tourism as city breaks continue to rise in popularity.”