New research has shown that a third of British women are buying summer clothes that are too small for them to encourage them to drop a dress size for the holiday season. Seven in ten are planning to diet or are already on a diet ahead of their summer holiday.

Half of those polled feel self-conscious about wearing summer clothes as they don’t like the way they look in more revealing clothes. Almost a third of women would only wear a bikini with a sarong and 12% efuse to sunbathe at all. Yet one in ten have bought a bikini a size too small hoping they will fit into it.

Two thirds of women go on a pre-holiday diet almost every year and while it is a great incentive it can pile on unnecessary pressure. 90% claim their diet is more successful with a holiday incentive. A fifth of women start putting the pounds back on while on holiday and half break their summer diet within a week. Looking fat on the beach was the top holiday worry for women followed by quality of accommodation and holiday costs.