January joy on High St

MASSIVE discounts lured shoppers onto the High Street in January after a disappointing Christmas.

Retail sales climbed 1pc in January following a 0.7pc fall in December, figures from the Office for National Statistics show. Compared with the same month a year earlier, January sales were up by 4.2pc – their best growth in two years.

A 0.9pc fall in prices encouraged shoppers to hit the sales in January.