Electricals and home technology (EHT) was again the best performing category for department store group John Lewis.

The retailer, viewed as a barometer of high street sales, reported EHT figures in the week to February 4, up 10.8 per cent on last year.

David Barford, director of selling operations for John Lewis region B, pointed out that the looming digital TV switchover in London and the South-East resulted in a 13.7 boost for vision products while the chilly weather pushed up heating sales.

Top performers, however, were IT, with sales 61.2 per cent ahead of a year ago, and consumer electronic accessories, up by 31.4 per cent.

Online sales at johnlewis.com continued to show double-digit increases - this time of 28.5 per cent.

This was the first week of John Lewis's business year and sales overall at the group were six per cent up on the same week in 2011.