Sales at John Lewis have continued to gain momentum as shoppers flock to buy gifts, beauty and clothing.

Trade from Sunday to Wednesday has continued to grow week on week, according to the department store retailer.

Director of retail operations Patrick Lewis said: “Sales have continued to grow week on week with gifts, beauty and clothing all exceptionally busy.

“Continued commitment to our Never Knowingly Undersold pricing policy has reinforced customers' trust in our value and helped drive this week's sales closer to last year's record level than the previous two months."

He added: “Our online trade is continuing to see strong year-on-year growth following its record-breaking week last week.”

The gains continued the positive sales trend recorded over the week to last Saturday, when John Lewis notched up a 20 per cent week-on-week increase in sales.

Despite recording a 6.7 per cent decline on the year during the period, the performance was well above recent trends. John Lewis described the week's performance to Retail Week as "absolutely morale boosting".