We all spent much less last month and it's a record drop. According to figures released by the Office of National Statistics today, retail sales volumes fell by 2.3% last month, all because of a sizeable fall in petrol sales.

Overall the sale of petrol was down by 13% in April, the month before there was an overall 2% jump in retail sales some of that due to the panic-buying people were doing because petrol tanker drivers were threatening to strike.

Compare this April to last April – well there were record temperatures and an extra Bank Holiday because of Wills and Kate getting hitched - but this year we had the wettest April since records began, so you can see why! That damp and murky weather meant we kept our hard-earned dough in our purses and wallets, and didn't head out to buy clothes or shoes – the areas which also saw depressed sales.

And recent news from some of the big retailers won't help that negative outlook. On Tuesday M&S gave us a big warning by slashing its sales growth forecast. Today it tells us its pre-tax profits for the year to the end of March were £658m, down by 16%!