Retail sales rose 0.8% in October, with growth in all sectors, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The rise was largely driven by a drop in prices, which fell by 1.5%, the largest decline since December 2002. It comes as the industry gears up towards Black Friday, the US-inspired bargain shopping day and Cyber Monday, the online equivalent which are expected to be “record breaking”.

Ian Geddes, UK head of retail at Deloitte, said: "A stronger than expected month, albeit driven by discounting, will bring some cheer as we start the run-up to Christmas."