UK retail sales in the month of March grew at the fastest rate since April 2006, according to the figures released by the British Retail Consortium. BRC said that the growth in retail sales in March was mainly attributable to the Easter and Good Friday. There was further good news for the retailers as another survey revealed that fewer retailers fell into administration if the first quarter of the year.

The data released by the British Retail Consortium showed that the March retail sales were reported up by 6.6% compared to the same month last year. This was reported the highest monthly growth in retail sales since April 2006. BRC said that the growth in retail sales in March could be half if the impact of Easter trading was excluded.

"Food sales received a big boost from Easter falling a week earlier than last year, with the first half of the Bank Holiday weekend reflected in these March results," said Stephen Robertson, director general of BRC.

The value of like-for-like sales was reported up by 4.4% in the month of March, beating the estimates of the economists. The economists were expecting a growth of 2% for the month of March. This was reported the highest growth since April last year.