Differences in the date of Easter, and the better weather this Spring, make comparisons difficult but total sales were up 0.6 per cent year-on-year this March as warmer weather benefited clothing, footwear and outdoor leisure. However homewares and furniture sales remained down on a year ago.

BRC director general Stephen Robertson said: “March this year didn’t include Easter but it did benefit from some good weather, compared with last year’s cold and snowy conditions, giving sales growth a minor boost. But there were sharp contrasts between sectors. A slight air of pre-Spring optimism tempted customers to buy new-season clothing and women’s footwear.

“But this is unlikely to be the basis of sustained improvement. Customers are still worried about jobs and their own finances – so they’re keeping spending under tight control. We’ve now seen negative like-for-like sales growth in nine of the past ten months. A revival in sales of big-ticket items would indicate confidence is coming back but, despite the discounts, furniture sales were the worst for at least nine years.”

And Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG, added: “The comparative figures were particularly weak, as last year’s results were affected by some poor weather and came at the turning point when declining consumer confidence really started to impact spending.

“So, while 0.6 per cent growth in the value of total retail sales is nothing to write home about, it is better than expected given that we still have the anticipated uplift due to Easter trading to come in April. We continue to see significant volatility in weekly and individual retailer performance, highlighting the need to remain cautious in drawing conclusions about the prospects for retail spending.”