UK retail sales dropped for the first time in three months in May as the pound fell and sales slumped against 2008 equivalents.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced sales declined 0.6 per cent from April, despite economists predicting a 0.3 per cent increase. Sales dropped 1.6 per cent from a year earlier.

Recent reports have indicated that Britain’s recovery from the recession will be uneven, with manufacturing and services improving. However, loans to companies were at a nine-year low in June.

Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium (BRC) director general, said: “These figures confirm our findings that May’s sales growth was well down on April’s Easter-driven surge. Until we see a turnaround in the sales of big-ticket items, it seems premature to talk of ‘green shoots’.

“The BRC’s Retail Sales Monitor showed food sales growth slowed in May, while non-food sales were well down on a year ago - the same picture painted by the ONS. Non-food retailing is suffering the brunt of consumers confining their spending to must-haves.

“There is a sense from some quarters that customers are readying themselves for recovery but, until worries about job prospects and personal finances lift, that will not filter through to a significant improvement in spending.”

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