Young people buying the latest computer games, mobile phones and sports kit, along with food sales helped to keep Britain's high-street shops in business in the first three months of the year.

New figures from the Office of National Statistics show that retail trade rose by two per cent in the first quarter of 2008, the largest rise since July 2006.

Food sales by supermarkets such as Bradford-based Morrisons, which in February grabbed a record share of the £32 billion UK grocery market, were mainly responsible for the increase.

But a leading regional business banker says the latest are misleading. Lee Collinson, corporate director of Barclays Commercial Bank in Yorkshire, says that while food retailers continue to enjoy growing sales, non-food shops are slashing prices and cutting profits to attract customers.

The ONS says total sales volume in the three months to March was 5.6 per cent higher than the same period a year ago.

Sales at predominantly food stores rose by 2.9 per cent, the highest growth in this sector since September 2006.

Sales in other stores, including games, mobile phones and sports goods, rose by 5.2 per cent, the largest growth for this sector since records began in 1986.

The average weekly value of sales in March was £5 billion, which is 4.4 per cent higher than in March 2007.

Mr Collinson, said: "This positive message conflicts with recent trade surveys and conversations with high-street retailers which have depicted a more downbeat view.

"The underlying growth can be explained in part by the aggressive cost-cutting by non-food retailers, which continues to support volume but is drastically lowering their margins.

"The figures also show huge growth for mobile phone retailers, games stores and sports shops whose sales role by 11.3 per cent."

In contrast, high-street fashion retailers suffered their largest fall in sales for ten years.