People keeping an eye on the promotional labels on clothes may be pleased to find that garments now cost less in Britain than in the US and Europe.

According to the News of the World, some items in top retailers such as Topshop, H&M and Zara now cost up to 50 per cent less in the UK than they do across the pond.

This may mean buyers no longer have to head abroad on shopping sprees in order to make the most of cheaper prices elsewhere, such as the way many people travel to New York at Christmas.

In some cases, online stores in Britain have been forced to stop Americans from ordering toavoid running out of stock.

The sudden decrease was attributed to supermarkets beginning to sell clothes for a fraction of the price of some high street retailers.

Richard Perks from market analysts Mintel commented: "Many UK retailers want to hold on to market share. That means keeping prices low and cutting profit to not lose customers to rivals."

This comes after Valassis market research found that nearly a quarter of Britons very frequently use promotional labels to get better prices on products.

Denny Bros Ltd, 25 May 2011