Food pushes February retail sales

Retail sales in the UK rose sharply in February, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Overall sales were up 1% on January, with food sales increasing by 1.6%. Year-on-year, total sales were up 5.5% on February 2007.

The strong showing appears to put a dampener on expectations that the Bank of England will cut interest rates again as early as next month.

Vicky Redwood, an economist at Capital Economics, told BBC News: "February's surprising sharp jump in retail sales, if taken at face value, suggests that a consumer slowdown hasn't even begun yet."

"It's hard to see what is keeping consumers spending," she added.

The results echo news earlier this week from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), which also noted a sharp rise in February trading in London.

The BRC has estimated that UK retailers will see consumer spending of £3.6 billion over the Easter weekend.