Retail sales in the UK increased 2.2% in February after a tough January, according to figures released by the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

Like-for-like sales were up 2.2% in February, following on from the 0.7% fall seen in January when snow put off shoppers.

However, this rise has been greeted with cautious optimism as sales for last month have risen compared with very weak trading in February last year.

"Despite appearances, these results are not that strong. The growth is compared with very weak figures a year ago when February saw the worst of last winter's weather and this February's performance was helped by sales postponed from January," said Stephen Robertson, director general of the BRC.