Home cooks who feel like hanging up their aprons for an evening are cutting back their spending in restaurants this year, new Mintel research has shown.

The recession has changed restaurant spending habits for 60 per cent of people, the group found, with 24 per cent saying they will cut back on eating out over the coming year.

However, ten per cent of those polled said they are intending on splashing out more on eating in restaurants in 2011 than they did last year.

"If restaurant-goers reduce how much they spend when they eat out, or only spend as much as they did last year, restaurants could have a slow recovery ahead of them," noted Eric Giandelone, director of foodservice research at Mintel.

Other recent findings from the group showed that cider drinking is increasing among British people, which it believes is down to innovation within the market.