Like-for-like sales decreased by 3% compared to the same period in 2018, when they registered a 2.8% uptick year on year, according to the latest BRC-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor. This was the steepest like-for-like decline since December 2008.

Total retail sales also plummeted by 2.7%, which, excluding Easter distortions, was the worst decline since the sales monitor began in January 1995. This was set against a 4.1% increase in total sales for May 2018, which was itself a four-year record.

Most worryingly for retailers, in-store sales of food increased just 0.8% on a like-for-like basis in the three months to May, below the 12-month total average growth of 2.5%.