UK retail sales fall

Bad weather kept shoppers at home

UK retail sales fell in April as wet weather and higher interest rates conspired to keep shoppers at home.

The sales total fell 0.3% in April compared to March, to stand 4.5% higher on the year, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Analysts had expected the volume of goods sold to rise by 0.4% in April.

Recent rate rises from the Bank of England have started to feed through to consumers' mortgage payments, leaving them with less disposable cash to spend.

In the past three months, sales rose 0.2% and were 4.5% higher than the same three months a year ago.

While the ONS blamed wet weather for the poorer sales, it is also thought they made a negative adjustment for Easter, which fell in April this year as opposed to March last year.

The ONS said that the trend was "not as strong as in recent months".

Comments like these provide support for those who say the Bank of England should now leave interest rates on hold.

The Royal Bank of Scotland's Neil Parker said: "This data is weaker than market forecasts and...should support calls for no further Bank of England rate hikes and will likely undermine the pound."

BNP Paribas's Ken Wattret said: "I am a little bit surprised. I think when in doubt, blame the weather.

"In terms of policy, the fact that there are some signs of a slowdown in the High Street is another reason to believe that the upward pressure on UK rates is limited."

Minutes from the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee released on Wednesday showed the nine members of the MPC were unanimous in their decision to leave rates at 6% earlier this month.