UK retail sales boosted by vacuum cleaner sales

UK retail sales rose by 0.4% during August, helped by shoppers looking to snap up high-powered vacuum cleaners ahead of an EU ban on the products.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said sales were up 3.9% compared with the same month last year.

Demand for household goods - notably furniture and electrical goods - was behind the rise in sales, the ONS said.

It also said that prices in stores fell over the year, with food prices seeing their first decline since 2004.

Average store prices in August were down 1.2% from a year ago, the ONS said, the largest annual fall since July 2009.