The group, which is widely seen as a barometer of the high street, said sales of £44.41m in the week to March 21 also reflected the fall of Easter last year.

The drop was substantially deeper than the 4.1 per cent dip seen the previous week and marked the ninth successive week of year-on-year declines in sales.

Sales at its Sheffield store were down 12.8 per cent. The worst performance was by the group's High Wycombe store, which saw sales plunge 27.3 per cent on a year earlier.

Head of communications Simon Fowler said: "A combination of the fall of Easter last year and some glorious weather was always going to mean we were up against some challenging trading comparisons."

"And so it proved to be. However, on the back of this, what is reassuring is our underlying trade continued to maintain a steady course and we captured some valuable additional sales in the lead up to Mother's Day."

Home-related products were down 15.6 per cent year-on-year, reflecting the weakness of housing market activity as well as the increased pressures on consumers.

An even sharper drop of 23 per cent was seen in electronics and home technology sales.

"Within electricals and home technology the year-on-year comparisons were most challenging, partly due to pre-Easter promotions last year," said Mr Fowler.

Chief UK and European economist for IHS Global Insight, Dr Howard Archer, said while the fall of Easter last year partly explains the dip, John Lewis' figures point to poor consumer sentiment.

He said: "The extent of the drop in John Lewis department store sales clearly points to flagging demand and adds to the torrent of bad news on retail sales seen in recent days.

"The prospects for consumer spending look pretty bleak as soaring unemployment and markedly deteriorating wage growth will weigh down ever more heavily on consumers."

Figures published this week by the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales fell by 1.9 per cent month-on-month in February.