M&S clothing sales down

Marks & Spencer is expected to add to a gathering sense of gloom among high-street retailers this

week by revealing a "grisly" drop in clothes sales as consumers tighten their belts in anticipation of the government's cuts.

Fresh from announcing plans for a flagship store on the Champs-Elysées after a decade's absence from France, the venerable retailer is likely to reveal a 6% fall in like-for-like sales of non-food merchandise for the three months to March. Food could be marginally up by 1%, according to a consensus among analysts' forecasts, with total sales down by 2%.