Royal wedding hangover hits UK retail sales

A hangover from the previous month’s royal wedding, Easter and run of bank holidays sent retail sales in Britain tumbling last month, official figures revealed today.

Retail sales volumes dropped by 1.4% month-on-month in May, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, as food stores and household goods retailers both saw sales slide.

Food stores saw the first decline in volumes for 14 months as fuel prices and the knock-on effect of the current economic environment hit spending and reversed a record performance in April.