APRIL'S unseasonally warm weather helped send the cash registers ringing across the UK last month as clothes stores saw their best performance for four years thanks to a rush to stock up on summer outfits.
Shoppers hit the high street to take advantage of falling prices, with official figures showing retail sales volumes jumped by a bigger-than-expected 1.2 per cent month-on-month in April, recovering from a surprise 0.7 per cent fall in March.
Sales leapt 4.7 per cent compared with a year earlier - marking the 25th consecutive month of year-on-year growth, the longest run since May 2008.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said clothing sales surged by 5.2 per cent by volume between March and April - the biggest rise since April 2011.
That contrasts to the 2.9 per cent drop in the value of sales the Scottish Retail Consortium found for the April trading period with volumes also down by one per cent.
The rise in the ONS figures took experts by surprise, with most economists pencilling in a 0.4 per cent rise in overall retail sales last month.
It raised hopes that Britain's economic growth can gather pace in the second quarter after a slowdown in the first three months of the year.
Economists say the recent fall in inflation - which turned negative in April for the first time since 1960 - is increasing consumer spending power as shoppers benefit from a welcome pick-up in real wage growth.
Alan Clarke, head of European fixed income strategy at Scotiabank, said: "If you wanted a demonstration of what 'good deflation' looks like, then UK retail sales data for April is the place to look."
He added: "Deflation is not causing consumers to hold back and hope for a better bargain further down the road.
"Rather, consumers are spending the windfall from the reduced burden of food and energy bills."
The ONS retail sales figures showed average store prices fell by 3.2 per cent year-on-year in April, marking the 10th drop in a row.
Lower costs on the forecourt was again the biggest factor, with average prices down by 11.5 per cent.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation dipped to minus 0.1 per cent in April, which is the lowest level on record and comes after two previous months of flat prices amid a supermarket price war and falling oil prices.
Chancellor George Osborne hailed the figures as ''good news for family budgets'', although the Bank of England has forecast inflation to pick up "notably" towards the end of the year.
Economist Chris Williamson at Markit said the buoyant retail sales figures were likely to see second quarter growth "perk up" from the 0.3 per cent expansion in the first quarter.
"However, while we expect the sales trend to remain positive in coming months, it's almost certain that the rate of growth will weaken from April's surging pace," he added.
"The spree in summer clothes buying in April means fewer shorts, sandals and other seasonal items will be bought in coming months."
Today's figures also showed last month was a strong month for online sales, which rose 3.7 per cent between March and April and accounted for 12.2 per cent of retail sales.
But supermarkets continued to suffer from price cuts across the sector, with the amount spent in stores falling by 1.4 per cent year-on-year in April as average stores prices dropped by 2.1 per cent.
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