ALCOHOL purchases in Brighton went up by more than a third in January, compared with last year.

Last year customers in the city spent an average of £11 on alcohol on each visit to the shop, but this January spending to rose to £15 per visit - up by 36 per cent.

Despite it being a month where many try to abstain from alcohol for Dry January, the study by payments provider Dojo suggests the third national lockdown led to an increase in bulk-buying alcohol across the country.

Brighton ranked in seventh place in the top ten towns and cities with the biggest increase in alcohol spending.

Ipswich saw the biggest increase in alcohol spends - up by 166 per cent, with customers spending £51 on average on each visit to the shop.

Oxford followed in second place with an 83 per cent increase, followed by Southampton on 48 per cent.

London saw the greatest decrease in spending on alcohol, possibly due to people moving out of the capital during lockdown.

Jon Knott, head of customer insights at Dojo, said: “Typically a time for detox, lockdown fatigue has made us rethink Dry January, with more of us finding ways to entertain ourselves with a drink or two on a Zoom call with friends.

"It’s perhaps unsurprising that there is an increase in sales of alcohol, however, because we may be drinking more frequently, we’re seeing a higher average sale cost per transaction.

"This means we could be swapping the weekend drinks for more throughout the week.”