Jubilee joy – but sun goes down on June sales

A Diamond Jubilee "bunting boost" for the high street saved retailers' blushes last month, but the June deluge washed out sales for the rest of the month, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said yesterday.

Shoppers temporarily put aside fears over the economy to pack in party foods such as crisps, cake and dips ahead of the long weekend, leaving like-for-like retail sales up by 1.4 per cent on a year earlier.

But the wettest June on record killed off sales for the rest of the month as retailers struggled to shift summer clothes, the BRC added.

The consortium's director-general Stephen Rob- ertson said: "It was the bunting boost. June was saved by the feel-good lift of the Jubilee, which shows how crucial these temporary factors are in our difficult trading conditions."