The British high street bounced back somewhat last month from a poor start to the year, new spending figures for April have revealed.

According to accountancy firm BDO, like-for-like sales increased by 3.7 per cent since March, with fashion items proving particularly popular, perhaps helped by promotional labels advertising special offers.

Spending on clothing grew by 5.1 per cent, while non-fashion items were also boosted to the tune of 2.3 per cent, analysis of 10,000 stores revealed.

BDO national head of retail and wholesale Don Williams said the good weather and all the time off is likely to have contributed, adding: "We always expected April to be better for the high street and these figures confirm that this has been the case."

However, he warned retailers they may not be out of the woods yet, as consumers are currently driving a hard bargain from peelable labels.

This comes after Sky News reported ahead of the royal wedding that retailers were expecting a busy bank holiday period.

Denny Bros Ltd, 10 May 2011