There are reasons to be cautiously optimistic about the level of savings in the UK, figures have shown.

The latest Nationwide Savings Index increased by eight points last month, now putting it at 80 – its second highest level in 2009.

More people are putting money away either regularly or occasionally compared to May, the research showed, while fewer people are saving nothing at all.

Andy Hutchinson, head of savings at Nationwide, said: "These positives may suggest that the wider UK economy, or at least the savings environment, is stabilising."

He added that it is too soon to establish whether attitudes towards saving have seen a marked improvement, suggesting that "caution should be exercised".

Further statistics from the index revealed that people are still cautious about saving for the future as the Importance of Savings Index fell by three points, while people also expressed uncertainty over whether now is a good time to save.

National Savings and Investments also announced last week that it had made £7.5 billion sales via nsandi.com and NS&I’s contact centres – up more than £2 billion against the previous year.