RETAIL sales are expected to slow this month, according to a study which is likely to add to the gloom surrounding the UK economy.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said that while retail sales remained robust in March, they grew at a lower rate than expected, with chemists, off-licences and specialist food shops all suffering.

Only 49 per cent of retailers surveyed by the CBI said their sales had increased in March when compared with the same month last year.

Figures for February and January were 55 per cent and 57 per cent respectively.

The CBI said only 42 per cent expected their sales to go up this month, with 41 per cent predicting they would remain the same.

Alastair Eperon, chairman of the distributive trades panel, said: "Sales volume growth remains robust, but the optimism of the last month has been disappointed. With sales now expected to grow more slowly in April, retailers will be monitoring the effect of the US slowdown on the European and UK economies."

The CBI said a more positive note was that its latest Distributive Trades Survey showed the three-month moving average retail sales index, rose to its highest level since last May.