First drop in retail sales since 2005

The worst sales figures for three years signal plummeting consumer confidence on the UK's high streets, according to a new report.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) and professional services provider KPMG released their October Retail Sales Monitor, showing that sales had fallen over a 12-month period for the first time since April 2005, with like-for-like sales down 2.2% from October 2007.

However, in terms of the value of total sales, there was a 0.1% fall from a year ago. The only sector which showed significant improvement in sales from October 2007 was food and drink.

Stephen Robertson, director-general of the BRC, said the numbers were "extremely poor" - especially in the run up to Christmas - and reflected a "record low" in consumer confidence.

And KPMG also believe the immediate outlook is gloomy for retailers, despite recent moves by the Bank of England.

Head of retail Helen Dickinson said: "It is unlikely that the much needed 1.5% rate cut will influence Christmas spending patterns - historically it takes a number of months for rate cuts to feed through into spending.

"Retailers can only hope that the October performance is not representative of consumers' spending intentions for the next six weeks.

"However, there is no doubt retailers will need to resort to heavy discounting to bolster sales over this crucial trading period."

IMAGEClive Gee/PA Wire/PA Photos