Families have around £16 a week more in their pockets than they did a year ago as the Easter Bank Holiday approaches, a report has found.

Across the UK, households had £184 a week to spend on non-essential items in February, which is 9.2% more than the same period in 2014, according to Asda's latest Income Tracker.

It said average family spending power has now risen year-on-year for 17 months, marking the most sustained recovery since the Bank of England sharply cut the base rate in 2009.

As people prepare to make long journeys to visit family and friends this Easter, they will find filling up at the petrol pumps less of a financial strain, the report said. The price of vehicle fuel fell by 16.6% year on year in February, marking the largest annual fall in more than 25 years.

The cost of food and non-alcoholic drink fell by 3.3% in February, marking the steepest decline in nearly 60 years, the report said. Household gas and electricity bills have also fallen by 2.4% year-on-year, while mortgage costs have edged up by only 0.4% annually as the cost of borrowing has remained cheap in the low interest rate environment.

The report is compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr). It said that while regular pay growth appears to have plateaued, it remains above the levels seen throughout 2013 and 2014 and significantly higher than Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation, which fell to 0% in February.

Further increases in employment have helped to support the "considerable rise" in household spending power over the past 12 months and over the past year more members of the typical household have moved into paid employment.

Sam Alderson, an economist at Cebr, said: "With consumer price inflation falling to zero in February, a spell of deflation in the UK looks more likely than not in the coming months.

"The large declines in the cost of food and fuel over the last year have supported a significant boost to household spending power.

"As long as households feel confident enough to spend this windfall, deflation should be short-lived and boost, rather than dent, economic activity."