A STRONG Halloween lifted retail sales in October, despite unseasonably warm weather for the second month in a row.

A survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG reported unchanged like-for-like sales for last month compared to a year ago, while total sales rose 1.4 per cent.

However, October's figure is an improvement on September, when like-for-like sales fell 2.1 per cent, again driven by warm weather hitting winter coat sales.

Over the last three months, food sales continued to come under pressure due to supermarket price wars - with total sales falling 1.4 per cent on a year ago and leading to an average decline over the year of 0.4 per cent.

Helen Dickinson, BRC director general, said: "Retailers' preparation around stocking items required for Halloween celebrations, such as costumes of characters from animation feature films for children, meant a significant year on year increase in Halloween related sales."

The best performers in October were furniture and home accessories retailers.

However, the report said the second month in a row of warm weather impacted clothing retailers who sold more jumpers than expensive heavy winter coats.

Last month, fashion retailer Next said the UK's Indian summer would knock £25m off its full-year profits as the sustained period of mild weather hits its sales.

David McCorquodale, KPMG head of retail, added: "Retailers need a nippy November to help them sell their winter stock before the season's out."