TORY ministers must urgently develop a high street recovery plan, retail union Usdaw demanded today after new figures showed that the start of the Christmas shopping season has failed to boost sales.

The Office for National Statistics warned that retail purchases slumped by 0.4 per cent last month, indicating a much weaker four weeks than expected following a rise of 0.9 per cent in October.

Food sales bucked the trend by showing an increase of just below 1 per cent, but outlets reported a continuing decline across the board as take-home pay falls well behind soaring inflation.

Online sales dropped by 2.8 per cent as shoppers continued to return to the high street following Covid-19 lockdowns, but remote purchases are still nearly a fifth higher than pre-pandemic levels.   

Usdaw general secretary Paddy Lillis told the Morning Star: “We have long called for the government to work with Usdaw and retailers to develop an industrial strategy and recovery plan for retail.

“The scale of the challenge the industry faces is huge and store closures are scarring our communities.”

Issues with “rents, rates and taxation” must be addressed, he said.