Colder weather and price cuts prompted a pick-up in British retail sales during September.
The chilly and wet finish to the month helped sales of warmer clothing and footwear as shoppers stocked up on winter gear, the British Retail Consortium's (BRC) latest survey showed.
Consumers were not fazed by the credit crunch and the Northern Rock bank run as like-for-like retail sales grew by a stronger-than-expected 3% over the month - compared to 1.8% in August - after wide-ranging price cuts tempted shoppers.
The survey covered the five weeks from August 26 to September 29. Northern Rock's emergency funding agreement with the Bank of England emerged on September 14.
Although retail sales growth was stronger last month, the BRC warned that the five recent hikes in interest rates by the Bank of England were beginning to slow down consumer spending.
In the three months to September, the sector saw like-for-like sales growth of 2.1% - compared to 2.5% between April and June, and 3.5% in the first quarter of the year.
