British consumer spending on credit and debit cards fell sharply in the week to Dec. 30, which covered the Christmas holiday period, according to non-seasonally adjusted figures released by the Office for National Statistics on Thursday.

Card spending dropped by 40 percentage points from the previous week to 86% of its average level in February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"This fall appears broadly consistent with a seasonal effect," the ONS said.

(Reporting by David Milliken, editing by Andy Bruce)