Some supermarkets are to close their doors early amid signs of a quiet Sunday afternoon on the High Street if England make it through to the World Cup final.

In the event of a win against Croatia on Wednesday, Aldi and Lidl stores across England will close early at 3pm on Sunday, an hour before kick-off.

Lidl UK chief executive Christian Hartnagel said: "As the official supermarket of the England football team, we absolutely believe it's coming home, which is why we are planning to close stores an hour early, and take part in what we hope will become a day of national celebration."

Lidl said it had experienced its highest ever footfall during the tournament and was preparing for "another bumper weekend" with more warm weather ahead.

The Wimbledon men's singles final is scheduled for its usual 2pm start on Sunday afternoon.

Aldi's UK chief executive Giles Hurley said: "With the final scheduled to kick off at 4pm on the Sunday afternoon, we want to make sure that, if England make it that far, our team have time to finish work and get home to watch the match, just like everyone else."

Figures suggest the early closures are likely to be of little concern to shoppers, with footfall on the high street down 18.9% during England's quarter final clash with Sweden on Saturday afternoon.

Dr Tim Denison, director of retail intelligence at Ipsos Retail Performance, said: "Saturday's big day of sporting events quelled shopping activity on the high street, with the number of shoppers in non-food stores down 18.9% on the previous Saturday.

"Although this is obviously a great time for the national side as World Cup fever sweeps the nation, it's damaging for non-food retailers.

"The same is certainly not true for grocery sales, which would have jumped by 30% or more on the previous Saturday thanks to barbecues and parties being the order of the day."

Based on last week's figures, Tesco is predicting it will sell around four million burgers, more than 50 million bottles and cans of beer and cider, 25,000 electric fans and almost 70,000 disposable barbecues as the celebratory atmosphere continues.

Meanwhile, Marks & Spencer is encouraging the nation to support the team by wearing waistcoats on "#waistcoatwednesday" in a nod to Gareth Southgate's pitch-side attire.