Retail sales fell in December as a last-minute surge in trading and discounting failed to save embattled high street chains from their worst year on record.
Store sales dropped 1.9% last month year-on-year, the sixth successive December to record negative sales growth, according to the high street sales tracker from accountants BDO.
Last month was also the worst year on record for like-for-like sales, with 2018 recording 11 consecutive months of negative sales growth since January.
