Scottish retail sales have fallen in June according to the Scottish Retail Consortium and KPMG.

The retail sales monitor found that like-for-like retail sales were down 1.1 pct on a year ago with flat suncare, food & drink sales combining with struggling clothing, footwear and furniture to reduce things overall.

The sales data is in stark contrast to London and the rest of UK where promotional ranges and clearances of clothing and footwear combine with the World Cup, which England participated in, to see a staggering like-for-like rise in London sales of 14.4 pct.

"With total Scottish sales growing at half the rate of the UK as a whole, these figures are concerning." said Fiona Moriarty, Director of the Scottish Retail Consortium.

"High street performance over the last three months painst the same picture with like-for-like sales struggling to improve against the continued backdrop of impending spending cuts in the Scottish public sector," added David McCorquodale, Head of Retail in Scotland for KPMG.

"The Scottish consumer is still erring on the side of prudence and, with VAT set to rise in January, retailers will have to work hard for the rest of the year to take advantage of a discretionary spend honeymoon." he added.