Retailers are expecting the pace of the high street's recovery to step up a gear in the wake of a significant improvement in trading during April.

Out of 131 respondents to the CBI's monthly distributive trades survey, 42% said sales volumes were up on a year ago, while 12% said they were down.

The balance of plus 30% represented the fifth month in a row of year-on-year growth, with future expectations also the strongest since late 2010.