Mixed weather and the Euro 2004 football tournament combined to produce slower growth in high street sales last month, figures showed last night.
Total sales grew by five per cent last month compared with the previous year, against 6.5 per cent in May, data from the study by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and accountants KPMG showed.
On a like-for-like basis, sales grew by 2.4 per cent compared to 3.7 per cent in May.
The BRC and KPMG said sunny weather giving way to cooler, wet weather later in the month, firstly helped sales of womenswear, fridges and picnic products, tumble driers and DVDs.
The European football championships had a two-fold effect, boosting sales of drink and televisions but also cutting the number of shoppers on England's match days.
BRC director general Kevin Hawkins said retail sales "continued to defy the prophets of doom and gloom".
He said: "The yo-yo effect of sales rising and falling month-to-month demonstrates the fragile nature of consumer confidence and the potential for harm from any further interest rate rises."
Acting head of retail at KPMG, Helen Dickinson, said retail spending held up well last month.
"However, this came at a cost, as a significant proportion of the high street felt the need to go into sale slightly earlier than last year," she said.
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