TORY ministers must urgently develop a high street recovery plan, retail union Usdaw demanded today after new figures showed that the start of the Christmas shopping season has failed to boost sales.

The Office for National Statistics warned that retail purchases slumped by 0.4 per cent last month, indicating a much weaker four weeks than expected following a rise of 0.9 per cent in October.

Food sales bucked the trend by showing an increase of just below 1 per cent, but outlets reported a continuing decline across the board as take-home pay falls well behind soaring inflation.