British government ministers stayed home today while hordes of holiday-makers revelled in the strong pound and fled the dismal weather and foot-and-mouth plague for warmer weather.
As streams of people headed for airports and the Channel Tunnel ahead of the four-day Easter weekend, the Association of British Travel Agents reported a record 1.75 million Britons had booked holidays abroad over the period.
That is a 15 per cent increase on last year, a spokeswoman said, adding the annual average increase over the past decade had been 10 per cent.
With an election now delayed until at least June because of the disease outbreak, cabinet ministers heeded a call by British Prime Minister Mr Tony Blair to take their holidays at home and fly the British flag.
Northern Ireland Secretary Mr John Reid told the Timesnewspaper he had cancelled a planned holiday in France while other ministers spread out across the country to take their pre-election relaxation.
Conservative opposition leader Mr William Hague said he would be strolling the Yorkshire Dales while Prince Charles has cancelled his annual European skiing holiday.
Although most of the sun-worshippers heading for Spain, Cyprus and Tunisia had booked their holidays well before the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease, ABTA said there had been a recent surge in specialist holidays such as walking and fishing holidays.
"But that is the only significant area where we have seen the foot-and-mouth effect. Mostly it has been because the pound is strong and the weather has been foul," the ABTA spokeswoman said.