Customers who suffer problems like low water pressure could receive payments of up to £250 – compared to the £25 currently available, Defra said.

GfK’s long-running Consumer Confidence Index increased by one point to minus 17 in December.

The popularity of lipstick and factor 30 sunscreen also dwindled, as did home office chairs and ‘boring’ ice cube trays, the retailer reported.

The NatWest poll found that £17 per head was the average going rate that people would ‘charge’.

Mel Raeburn said it was ‘an honour’ to be selected to record a version of Richard Ashcroft’s Sonnet.

The regulator is also proposing new standards for suppliers to make it easier for customers who are struggling to pay their bills to get support.

The price for arabica beans – the world’s most popular bean variety- reached a 47-year high this week.

Rory Stewart’s memoir Politics On The Edge topped the biography category.

The energy price cap could rise another 1% in April to £1,762 a year for a typical dual fuel consumer, Cornwall Insight has said.

Sales across the supermarkets are expected to exceed £13 billion over the four weeks of December for the first time.

The ban, which will come into effect in October 2025, will mean ‘unhealthy’ products cannot be advertised before the watershed.

Pubs are expected to sell a record 140 million pints of low and no-alcohol beer across the UK this year, up from more than 120 million last year.

The cost of full tanks for 55-litre family cars are £75 for petrol and £78 for diesel – or £5.75 and £6.60 less than a year ago respectively.

Some 23% of consumers plan to buy two meat options for Christmas dinner, a poll suggests, while retailers report surging demand for luxury meal kits.

The Government confirmed the laying of secondary legislation for the ban on Tuesday.

Analysts say a late Black Friday this year has distorted sales figures, but consumers’ are exercising ‘underlying caution’ on their spending.

Some 36% of Britons will be spending this Christmas apart from loved ones, the poll for Vodafone found.

The Competition and Markets Authority said fuel margins remained higher than historic levels, and it remained concerned about weakened competition.

The Soil Association investigation ranks UK restaurants after it uncovered unhealthy meals and a lack of freshly prepared options on kids’ menus.

Confidence has been offset by declining expectations of the wider economy, according to the BRC-Opinium Consumer Sentiment Monitor.