Retail sales volumes in March were 0.3per cent higher than in February, when sales fell by 2per cent. Sales in March were 1.5per cent higher than a year ago. The volume of sales in the first three months of the year was just 0.9per cent up on the previous three months.

Sales of household goods continued to fall sharply but food and clothes sales rose.

Sales volume for food stores rose by 0.6per cent from February to March, and by 1.3per cent compared with a year earlier.

The statistics agency said mainly dry weather in March also encouraged shoppers.

Sales volumes for textiles, clothing and footwear rose by 8.4per cent in March compared with the same month a year earlier.

Inactivity in the housing market was probably behind the dipping sales of furniture and lighting, although DIY sales held up.

Sales in non-specialised stores, such as department stores, fell by 1.1per cent in March compared with a year earlier and have now fallen in nine out of the past 10 months.

Internet sales in March accounted for 3.4per cent of total retail sales, with the average weekly value up from GBP167m in February to about GBP172m in March.

In general the underlying trend "appears to be softening", according to Howard Archer, senior UK and European economist at IHS Global Insight.

"Consumers are coming under ever-increasing pressure from soaring unemployment and markedly slowing wage growth, " he said.

"Indeed, more and more people are facing pay freezes or wage cuts, while overtime payments and bonuses are being reduced.

"Furthermore, credit conditions are still tight while many consumers are clearly increasingly retrenching out of choice.

"These factors seem bound to hit consumer spending hard over the coming months, significantly outweighing the support to purchasing power coming from substantially reduced mortgage payments for many people, and likely more competitive pricing by retailers."