High Street sales rose in July, but trading remains tough, according to a British Retail Consortium survey. The BRC said like-for-like sales were 0.6% higher on July last year, when sales had risen 0.5%.

But they warned that much of July's rise was due to clearance sales and "consumer confidence needs to be restored quickly before spending paralysis sets in". Discounting in July was extensive in clothes and footwear.

The BRC also said that online and mail order sales growth slowed to a near two-year low after a clearance uplift the previous month faded.

BRC director general, Stephen Robertson, says: "This is a modest improvement on recent months but overall conditions remain very difficult for retailers. When you take into consideration inflation and January's increase in VAT, 2.5% growth effectively means people are buying fewer goods.”

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