Non-food non-store sales, including electricals, were 17.8 per cent higher on a like-for-like basis than those notched up in August 2009.

Sales over all, however, rose by just one per cent.

The figures, from the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) Retail Sales Monitor revealed consumer hesitation to spend.

"August 2009 was the worst month of the second half of last year so this year’s results are nothing to write home about,” said Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG, which helps to compile the BRC’s figures.

BRC director-general Stephen Robertson added: “With the Government about to detail its cuts and a VAT rise in prospect, retailers will be hoping consumer confidence doesn’t slip over the next few months.”