A TOP national retail group has hailed the Plymouth Summer Festival as a shining example of how to battle the recession.

In its latest report, The British Retail Consortium has highlighted the spectacular five-month event as an "innovative" idea to bolster footfall on the high street.

Plymouth sits alongside other cities across the UK who have made efforts to market and promote the location.

Report authors say feedback on the festival – which features a variety of spectacular local, national and international music, theatre, arts and events – has been "extremely positive".

It also claims that 75 per cent of visitors to the city know about the event largely thanks to its website, bus, radio and print advertising and the 100,000 brochures which have been circulated.

The idea was the brainchild of the Plymouth City Centre Company.

David Draffan, managing director of the company, welcomed the city's inclusion in the report which is entitled '21st Century High Streets: A New Vision for our Town Centres'.

"The Plymouth Summer Festival is a grown-up approach to marketing the city, and it is great to be held up as an example of doing things in the correct way," he said.

"City centres have to respond to the changing climate,"

"You have to provide more of an experience and give people a reason to come into the city centre.

"The Plymouth Summer Festival has allowed us to tap into different markets and created a win-win approach to everyone involved.

"The beauty of the summer festival is that it brings all the relevant partners together in the city for the good of the city.

"Everybody wins by linking events together."

The Plymouth Summer Festival was launched in April with organisers proudly boasting it as having one of the best seasonal events programmes in the UK.

It boasts hundreds of events including top-class theatre, hi-octane water-based action, mouth-watering food events and the whizz-bang of fireworks.

This year is the third year of the festival and it has boasted events such as Rod Stewart live at Home Park, the Barbican Jazz and Blues Festival, the Honda Formula 4-Stroke Championships and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Theatre Royal.

The report states: "Feedback on the project has been extremely positive.

"Research concluded that 75 per dent of visitors were aware of the festival and 48 per cent had visited specifically for an event.

"Research indicated that over 300,000 additional day visitors were attracted during the four months of the festival.

"The average visitor spend during the period was £92, £40 higher than the regional average."

An action-packed line-up of events is to take place across the city over the next two months as the Plymouth Summer Festival reaches its latter stages.

The Festival's Golden Week (August 11 to 17) captures the spirit of the entire Plymouth Summer Festival, with free public entertainment on the Hoe including the British Firework Championships and the Rolex Fastnet Race, plus Chicago at the Theatre Royal, and the Plymouth Flavour Fest.

Other festival highlights between now and the end of September include the Classic Boat Rally, and Navy Days.

For a full list of events visit www.plymouthsummerfestival.com.