Retail sales bounced back in February after a tough January on the High Street, figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) showed.

UK retail sales recovered month-on-month by 2.2 per cent in February after January's tough weather conditions that kept people away from the High Street, the British Retail Consortium said.

In January, like-for-like sales dropped more-than-expected 0.7 per cent due to cold weather and return of VAT to its pre-recession level of 17.5 per cent.

However, the BRC warned that February's figures were compared with very weak figures of the year ago period.

Speaking on the topic, BRC Director General Stephen Robertson said, "Despite appearances, these results are not that strong."

Sales of food items slowed again in February, but non-food sales rebounded as good weather took shoppers again to the High Street.

Sales of cloths, jewellery and confectionary also performed well, helped by Valentine's Day.

The recovery of the snow-hit delivery market pushed online and phone-based sales up by 15.5 per cent in February.