Strong increase in retail sales

The timing of Halloween helped stores' sales

High Street sales rose in October - driven by non-food shopping such as children's clothes for Halloween, a retail body has said.

UK like-for-like sales - which do not include new stores - rose by 3.8%, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said.

But this was compared with October 2008 when turmoil in the financial markets hit consumer confidence.

The BRC said shops were already battling for Christmas shoppers with promotions and discounts.

"With less than 50 days to go before Christmas, retailers will be hoping that improved consumer confidence will be sustained during the festive period and beyond," said BRC director general Stephen Robertson.

"But 2010 has many uncertainties, including the likelihood of rising unemployment and tax increases."

Fancy dress

For a second month, the non-food sector "outperformed" the food sector, according to the report.

This reflected lower food price inflation, but was also the result of stronger growth of clothing and footwear than in September.

The fact that Halloween fell on a Saturday, when many children were also on half-term holiday, boosted the sales of fancy dress costumes and some cosmetics, the report said.

The warm autumn weather tended to extend the season for some clothing sales, although winter ranges were hit.

The lift in house prices reported by a number of surveys also marked a change of sentiment in homeware shopping compared with a year earlier.

"Stronger consumer confidence and better housing market news made shoppers more willing to spend, but many purchases were carefully considered," the report said.

"Hence practical items and upgrades often took priority over discretionary extras."