Despite the dismal August weather slowing high street sales, fresh fruit and vegetables continued to perform well, according to the British Retail Consortium.

The wet weather slowed sales from 2.6 per cent in July to just 1.7 per cent in August according to the BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.

Kevin Hawkins, director general with the BRC, said: “It was not a good month for anyone, the abysmal August weather helped slow sales to their lowest point since December 2003.”

Despite this, according to the organisation’s analysts, while wet weather hit demand for cold convenience foods and beverages, fresh fruit and vegetables did well.

However Helen Dickinson, acting head of retail with KPMG, said: “Although there will always be those players that continue to do well, no individual sector had a particularly good month.”

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