British retailers brace themselves for more high street gloom

Graeme Evans, PA City Editor

A study by the CBI found one-in-five retailers believed the overall business outlook would deteriorate in the next quarter the first time in seven years that firms had been more despondent than hopeful about prospects.

The CBI's underlying annual sales trend measured over three months to cancel out blips is also at the weakest in the survey's 22-year history.