Retail sales remained strong during February, with shoppers failing to curb their spending after the recent interest rate rises, new figures have revealed.

The Confederation of British Industry’s (CBI) latest quarterly report revealed that 47 per cent of retailers said that sales were up compared with a year ago, while 21 per cent said they were down.

The balance of plus 26 compares with plus 38 in January and plus 33 in December. Although sales have slowed slightly since the January sales, takings were above average for this time of year.

The CBI said that the recent interest rate rises have done little to dent consumers' spending sprees, with retailers happily predicting that March will see continued sales growth.

Although Christmas sales were generally sluggish, the underlying retail trend has risen steadily since summer 2002, with high street stores driving the economy forward during the recent downturn.

The latest CBI report found that clothing retailers had turned around their January decline in sales, while grocers, booksellers and furniture stores all reported healthy growth.

Footwear and leather goods saw a slight fall in sales compared with the spending surge in January.

Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser at the CBI, said that the retail picture remains strong.

“Consumer spending remains resilient in spite of only modest growth in take-home pay and shoppers have yet to react to the two recent rises in interest rates.

“However, the high levels of personal debt mean consumers are more sensitive to rate changes than is normally the case, so the Bank needs to continue its gradualist approach to prevent consumer spending slowing too sharply later this year.

“Inflationary pressures remain subdued with competition tough, price rises well below the average of the past ten years, and discounting continuing.

“Many retailers extended their January sales period into February,” he said.