UK retail sales figures down from 2010

Associated British Foods, Primark's parent company, has said sales growth fell for the first time in five years. It expects sales growth of just 3% in the six months to March.

At the top end of the high street, John Lewis also reported sales growth was down in February, rising just 0.7% compared to over 18% the same time last year.

The latest figures on high street spending show that overall UK retail sales in February were down 0.4% on a like-for-like basis from February 2010.

Stephen Robertson is the director general of the British Retail Consortium and he told the BBC that people ''just don't have the money to spend in the shops''.