The British pay the price for taking family holidays in the peak August season, it was revealed.

Overseas package holiday prices in mid-August can be as much as 85 per cent higher than those in mid-July, a survey by Santander Cards - part of the Santander bank group - found.

The average foreign package increase from mid-July to mid-August is 38 per cent, while the UK holiday average rise is 30 per cent, the survey showed.

In September, prices for holidays abroad dip by an average of 33 per cent from their August peak while prices for UK breaks fall by an average of 55 per cent.

The survey found the cost of a week-long trip for a family of four to the Portuguese Algarve can rise from just over £2,000 in mid-July to around £3,800 in mid-August before dipping to around £2,200 in September.

The price of a caravan holiday in Presthaven Sands, North Wales, rises from £399 in mid-July to £698 in mid-August before going back down to £467 in September.

The lowest August rises were found on holidays to the Spanish island of Majorca, where costs rose only 16 per cent in August.

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