Sales in British shops fell in April, a survey showed, even though warm weather and the Easter holidays should have encouraged shopping.

Accountancy and business advisory firm BDO said its monthly High Street Sales Tracker found sales in UK shops fell 0.4% y/y in April. It was the third monthly decline for in-store sales so far this year.

"Whilst a marginal drop in sales may not on the face of it seem significant, it has to be taken in the context of a low benchmark and, crucially, what should have been perfect shopping conditions last month," said Sophie Michael, BDO's head of retail and wholesale.

"With record warm weather, Easter holidays and more Brits taking staycations, April should have been a bumper month for high street retailers. Instead, these factors couldn't prevent further decline. Real wage growth and low unemployment were not filtering through to spending, with consumer confidence low" she said.