British retail sales volumes unexpectedly sank at their sharpest rate in four years last month despite big discounts in the sales.
The Office for National Statistics said the volume of sales fell 1.8% in January, which pushed UK retail sales up 3.3% on the year.
Analysts had forecast a 0.1% monthly gain after December's 1.1% surge.
The weak data came despite prices being on average 0.4% lower than a year ago, the most negative reading since July last year. However, analysts said the latest fall was just payback after strong sales in December.
The ONS said sales of household goods fell 4.2% on the month, the biggest fall in two years. Sales at clothing and footwear stores fell 4.4%, the sharpest drop since September 2002.
The ONS said that while underlying growth in retail sales volumes had slowed, it remained robust compared with the long-run average. Sales in the three months to January were up 0.9% on the previous three months.
