Fears that Christmas 2006 would be remembered by retailers as the most miserable in a generation appear to have been confounded, with a report released on Monday showing consumers spent substantially more than last year.

In total, sales through December were strong, up 4.4 per cent compared with last year, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium. Crucially for shopowners, like-for-like sales – which reflect how successful retailers are at generating sales from the same floor space – climbed by 2.5 per cent over the same period.