Self-employed plumbers earned an average of £976 a week last month - the equivalent of a £47,000 annual salary - according to Hudson Contract. 

Hudson Contract said earnings edged down by 2.5% during October but pay was comfortably above levels seen between April and June during the first lockdown.  

Plumbing contractors in Wales saw the strongest growth last month (up 9.4%) followed by their counterparts in Yorkshire and the Humber (up 12.5%t) and the East Midlands (up 5.3%). 

Ian Anfield, Managing Director of Hudson, said: “Our clients are telling us they have full order books and that demand for skilled trades continues to outstrip supply. Our clients say it will be business as usual up to Christmas in spite of the new lockdown.

“We welcome the extra clarity from ministers that construction workplaces should stay open during the next four weeks. They have confirmed that builders merchants and estate agents will continue to trade and tradespeople will be able to enter homes.

“There is plenty of work around. The government has committed to a lot of infrastructure spending and new projects are being announced every day."