Retail sales saw strong growth in the UK in February, rising 1% from January's figure and 5.5% from February 2007, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

The increase in spending has been partly due to an increase in food sales and has surprised many analysts who were predicting spending would fall from the levels seen in January.

The figures suggest the credit crunch has not yet filtered through to consumer behaviour and will be welcome news to retailers.

But it will add to the Bank of England's concerns over rising inflation and may persuade the monetary policy committee to keep interest rates on hold for the time being.