The summer lift in high street spending has fallen back, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.
Retail sales volumes fell by 0.9% in September, exceeding economists’ expectations of a fall of 0.3%. The bigger than expected decline follows a rise of 0.4% in August.
Shoppers cut back their spending on clothes and other non-essential items as cost of living pressures and high energy prices began to bite.
