The tills were ringing their loudest since 1998 in the early part of December, giving strong signals of a merry Christmas on the UK high street.

The CBI latest distributive trades survey covered the two-week period leading up to 11 December.

It showed retail sales growth at its fastest pace for 26 years, spurred on by the magnifying effect of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as well as Small Business Saturday.

Sales are expected to grow less quickly in the year to January, but more swift business is anticipated and retailers are placing their biggest stock orders for a year.

Sectors who have seen the best figures were grocers, with sales at a two-and-a-half-year high, and furniture businesses, as well as the ‘other normal goods’ sector including jewellery, watches and flowers.

Barry Williams, CBI distributive trades survey chairman and Asda chief merchandising officer for food, said: “The strongest sales growth for a quarter of a century is a big boost for retailers as they head towards the climax of the crucial pre-Christmas trading period.

“Black Friday price-cuts, embraced more widely by more UK retailers than ever, and discounting played an important part in helping sales, encouraging more customers into stores and online to buy more widely.

"But shoppers may have caught the Christmas bug early and brought some of their spending forward. This has been a tough year for many retailers and parts of the sector are still struggling.

“Increasing disposable income from real wages growth, and falling fuel prices are giving retailers reasons for optimism but we’ll need to see in the New Year whether the upbeat mood takes hold.”