UK retail sales rose at their fastest rate in over nine years in December, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics said that retail sales rose 5.3%, beating the figures from the British Retail Consortium, which reported annual growth of just 1.8%. The disparity is due to the ONS taking its figures from across the retail industry, including smaller stores, as opposed to the BRC, which only measures the financials of larger retailers.

"This December was much better than what we've seen in previous years," Kate Davies from the ONS told the BBC. "It's the small stores that are very much driving growth - they are seeing a consistent gain of 8% annual growth, while large stores are seeing 2.6% growth."