The data for the month of August showed that retail sales fell 0.2% when compared with July, which saw a 0.4% uptick and a 1% increase in June.

The ONS blamed the first sales downturn since May on what it called the largest monthly fall in online sales since August 2015, and end of pre-summer holiday promotional activity.

Ecommerce sales fell to 19.7% in August, down from 19.9% in July.