Retail sales fell last month as shoppers curbed spending ahead of the budget, official figures show.

Sales volumes fell 0.7% in October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, with clothing stores having a “particularly poor” month.

Speculation over possible tax increases ahead of last month’s budget was blamed as the reason households and businesses were more reluctant to make spending decisions.

Although the fall was larger than expected last month, the ONS said wider trends showed sales had been robust.

Sales volumes increased by 0.8% between August and October compared to the previous three months.

“When we look at the wider trend, retail sales are increasing over both the quarterly and annual periods, although they remain below pre-pandemic levels,” said Hannah Finselbach, senior statistician at the ONS.

She said October’s decline “was driven by a particularly poor month for clothing stores, but retailers across the board reported consumers reined in their spending ahead of the budget.”

Sales at clothing stores fell 3.1% in October, with separate surveys suggesting that last month’s warmer weather may have caused shoppers to delay buying warmer clothes.