Rainy spring delivers blow to Yorkshire's high street as retail sales and spending confidence falls, new figures suggest

But following a tricky few years for retailers and small businesses, Labour MP Jon Trickett for Hemsworth has called for more to be done.

The former shadow business minister said the high street has battled a "triple whammy" of blows with too little investment, out-of-town centres, and the cost-of-living crisis.

Robert Goodwill meanwhile, Conservative MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said the wet weather will have had a big impact and that is already evident for farmers.

"We've had the worst couple of months in Spring I can recall," he said. "It's probably kept people in their homes, buying online.

"Among the people most heavily hit are garden centres, they have so much unsold stock on their shelves."

Today's figures, comparing retail sales to this time last year, come from British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.

An early Easter bank holiday will have impacted this year's four per cent drop for April, experts say, having pushed March's figures unusually high, while wet weather is also cited.

But while consumer confidence to spend should have risen amid falling inflation and the prospect of interest rate cuts, analysts said, that is yet to come to fruition.

Instead typical spring purchases - such as clothes, DIY equipment and garden furniture - were "weak" as a result of the dull, wet weather.

Tech sales saw a slight boost, while food sales increased 4.4 per cent year on year. Non-food sales fell 2.8 per cent for the same period.

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Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the BRC, said "dismal" weather and disappointing sales had led to a depressing start to spring for retailers.“Many retailers are hoping for brighter sales over the summer months as social events ramp up, and consumer confidence could improve with a potential cut in interest rates," she said.

The high street has seen a turbulent few years, with a number of businesses struggling post-pandemic as consumer habits changed, and amid a rise in online shopping fuelled partly by lockdowns.

Mr Trickett has now called for more to be done to protect the high street shops from potentially vanishing.

He said: "We urgently need Government action to invest in our town centres which are being hit by a Tory triple whammy: less money in people's pockets as a result of the cost-of-living crisis; out of town shopping centres; and deliberate Government neglect of the North despite their so-called levelling up agenda."

In Scarborough, Conservative MP Sir Robert Goodwill echoed the 'use it or lose it' mantra when it comes to local centres. Customers buying online cannot then be surprised if their high street store closes, he said.

Wet weather this springtime will have impacted on people who might normally be splurging on summer clothes ahead of holidays, he said.

It might also impact on people spending on home improvements, gardening equipment and DIY. But when it came to spending on the high street, he believes that habits are changing.

"People should try and use the high street," said Sir Robert.

"If people don't think carefully about preserving the high street they will find the shops aren't there."

A Government spokesperson said: “Revitalising high streets is a major part of our levelling up agenda, and since 2019 we have committed £15bn to improve everyday life for people up and down the country including by regenerating town centres. Last month we also introduced a business rates support package worth £4.3bn and a raft of other measures to support small businesses.”