Worrying figures show the high street has hit a slump. In September retail sales increased by the lowest level for nearly a year.
KPMG and the British Retail Consortium found like-for-like retail sales were down 0.2 per cent, while total sales increased 0.7 per cent.
The BRC said this was the lowest growth rate since October 2017.
Helen Dickinson, head of the British Retail Consortium said: “These figures lay bare the difficult operating environment for the retail industry.
“After a challenging August, constrained consumer spending in September has resulted in the weakest sales growth for five months.”
Esme Harwood, a director at Barclaycard, said: “We’ve seen spending return to a more modest level as consumers balance their budgets after a longer than usual summer of spend. Rising prices are having an impact on shoppers’ spending priorities, with more of their household budget devoted to everyday essentials such as petrol.”
