Official sales figures from the UK high street have continued to defy expectations according to the Office for National Statistics.

Retail sales declined by 0.1 per cent in October, much better than expected by economists, who had predicted a fall of 0.5 per cent or more.

But analysts said the results continue to cause alarm.

Vicky Redwood at Capital Economics said: "The much bigger 1.1 per cent drop in non-food sales clearly suggests that discretionary spending is taking a hit.

"Household goods and clothing sales, in particular, nosedived, dropping by 1.5 per cent and 3.4 per cent respectively," she said.

"What's more, anecdotal evidence suggests that the past couple of weeks have been even more shocking for retailers, as illustrated by the rash of price discounting announced this week."

Major retailers have this week slashed prices in an apparent bid to breathe life into high street sales in the run up to Christmas, which should be their busiest period.

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