Retail sales last month fell at the fastest pace on record for the key Christmas shopping month, a survey showed yesterday, underlining the tough conditions facing retailers as Britain slides into recession.

The British Retail Consortium said like-for-like retail sales fell for a seventh consecutive month and by 3.3 per cent on a year ago in December, compared with a 2.6 per cent fall in November.

That was the biggest December drop since the series began 14 years ago. Stripping out distortions in the survey often created by the timing of Easter, the BRC said December's fall was the worst for any month in its survey's history.

The figures reinforce an increasingly bleak outlook for the British economy and are likely to support market expectations for further interest rate cuts from the Bank of England.

The Bank has cut rates to 1.5 per cent from five per cent since October and analysts expect borrowing costs will near zero soon.

The BRC said total sales, which include new floorspace, fell for a third straight month and by 1.4 per cent last month compared with a 0.4 per cent fall in November - also the weakest reading for a December since the survey began.

"These are truly dreadful numbers," said BRC director general Stephen Robertson. "Non-food retailers had a torrid December despite a blizzard of promotions and deals. Many hard-pressed customers couldn't be seduced into spending."

The BRC had warned last month that December, usually boosted by Christmas spending, was likely to have proved a difficult month for shops.