Central London suffered its worst retail sales for more than two years in November, hailing an ominous outlook for Christmas in the capital, according to the London Retail Consortium (LRC).

Stores registered a mere 0.4 per cent increase in like-for-like sales – the weakest since October 2005. The lacklustre figure is compared with an 8.5 per cent spike last November.

BRC director-general and LRC director Kevin Hawkins said: “This is the worst result for London since October 2005 and does not bode well for the run-up to Christmas.”

Hawkins added: “Customer footfall was well down on last year and the widespread discounting by certain department stores, while boosting their sales, seems to have had little overall impact on the average performance. The recent reduction in interest rates has come not a moment too soon.”

Clothing and footwear sales continued to struggle in the mild weather, but the cold snap towards the end of the month lifted sales of winter outdoor wear, knitwear, warm accessories and boots.

Sales of furniture and homewares were slow, as increased consumer caution and worries over house prices hit sales of big-ticket items, while smaller purchases were discount-driven.