John Lewis weekly sales drop

John Lewis, the employee-owned group seen as a barometer of retail spending, reported a plunge in weekly sales at its department stores last week, hit by warm weather and the timing of Easter.

The group said sales fell 11.6 per cent on the same week last year to £43.18 million.

"The outcome for the week was as we expected. With one trading day less than last year, and two glorious spring days across the country on Easter Monday and last Saturday, we fell well short of last year," it said in a statement.

Sales of home-related goods tumbled 20.8 per cent, electricals and technology products were down eight per cent and fashion down 4.4 per cent.

The fall took the decline in John Lewis's department store sales so far this year to 6.6 per cent - "clearly very challenging, but somewhat better than we predicted," the company said.

The figures may dampen recent optimism that consumer spending in Britain is starting to stabilise.