TESCO showed no sign of letting its dominance of the supermarket sector slip yesterday with the announcement of strong autumn sales figures.

The group said total sales in the UK grew by 12.3 per cent in the 14 weeks to November 20, helped by like-for-like growth of 9.8 per cent and a 2.5 per cent boost from new stores.

With at least £150m of price cuts made so far this financial year, Tesco said its stores had seen deflation for a second successive quarter.

The performance comes two months after the group beat market expectations with a 24 per cent rise in half-year profits to £822m.

Strong growth in non-grocery areas, such as clothing and DVDs, helped those interim results and a spokesman said figures had been further lifted by a positive reception to its value range of kitchen products.

Petrol volumes also grew strongly after Tesco sought to keep pump prices low during a time of rising oil costs.