Early Easter and pre-election anxiety to blame
The latest retail sales figures show that April experienced a 4.7 per cent like-for-like drop, sparking fears of a recession in the retail sector and widening calls for a reduction in interest rates. Total sales for the month were down 1.3 per cent year on year.

The BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor showed that the figures were only partly affected by the late Easter. The figures also demonstrated that trade was bad across the board but more so for discretionary purchases and non-essential items.

Big-ticket items continued to suffer, particularly white goods and furniture. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that younger fashion bucked the trend when the weather was good, but found trading tough overall.

BRC director-general Kevin Hawkins said the like-for-like figure was the worst for 10 years. He said: 'Some stores enjoyed stronger sales on warmer days, but this was short-lived and most sales in most sectors suffered. A slowing housing market, pre-election economic uncertainty and the continuing threat of interest rate rises dominated consumer confidence in April.'

Read Paul Smiddy's review of Judi Bevan's Trolley Wars here

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