Riots blamed for drop in shop sales

Sales in August were the worst for two years, with year-on-year like-for-like sales falling 2.2 per cent.

Consumers were put off parting with their cash by the widespread looting and destruction, at a time when confidence was already low, according to accountancy firm BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker.

Sales volumes slowed to 0.2 per cent growth in July, from 0.8 per cent in June.

Don Williams, from BDO, said: “Ever since the recession hit, smart retailers have been working flat out to keep consumers spending in an extremely tough trading environment. But the scale and ferocity of the disruption we saw in August was a real body blow.

“We don’t expect the pressure on consumer confidence to ease - or the cash they have in their pockets to increase - so we’re not expecting the sort of ‘keep calm and carry on’ sales uplift that we might see if the economy was in better health.”

Meanwhile manufacturers are bucking other recent negative trends, according to a survey by the Engineering Employers Federation.

The EEF said output and orders had grown in the past quarter “holding out hope that the recovery has not yet run out of steam.”

A survey of 400 firms showed that exports remained the main driver behind growth.