Shop sales hit by cold weather

Freezing weather drove retail sales 1.3% down in April on a month earlier as barbecue goods and garden furniture remained stuck on stores' shelves.

Shrinking food sales weighed heavily in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, with food volumes slumping by 4.1% month on month to the lowest level since May 2011 as the deep freeze continued at the start of the month.

Retail sales edged up by just 0.5% on a year earlier, the ONS added, casting a cloud over the dominant services sector.

Economists said the figures provide a stark reminder that the economy is "not yet out of the woods".

The ONS said rising prices could have driven the slump in food sales, after figures on Tuesday showed inflation remained stubbornly high at 2.4% in April. Rising food and non-alcoholic drinks prices were the main upward force on inflation, it added.

Statisticians said the squeeze on consumers' disposable incomes might have resulted in shoppers buying less or having cheaper goods than normal.

While the figures were likely to have been influenced by the timing of Easter, which this year fell in March instead of April, economists said the sales slump suggests consumers remain nervous about spending.

However, ING Bank economist James Knightley said that while the fall is a "massive disappointment", the underlying detail is not as bad.

He said: "The steep drop in food sales will be recovered in the next month or so and rising employment and gradual improvements in confidence should keep consumer spending rising very gradually."