UK high street suffers "awful start" to 2010

The UK high street suffered its worst January in at least 15 years after extreme weather and continued economic woes kept shoppers away, new figures have revealed.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the value of goods sold rose just 1.2 per cent on the previous year. On a like-for-like basis, excluding store expansions and closures, sales fell by 0.7 per cent.

Describing the worst January growth for over a decade, BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: "It's an awful start to the year and in stark contrast to an upbeat December.

"The VAT change brought some sales forward to December, but customers are becoming cautious again in the face of economic and political uncertainty.

"Retailers will be hoping these results are mainly a snow induced blip, rather than an indication of further difficulties."

The poor January performance came after the strongest December for eight years, dampening any expectations of a strong economic recovery.

Figures released on Tuesday showed food sales held up well during the first half of last month in the face of the worse winter for 30 years, with clothing sales also increasing.