UK shop prices in first monthly fall for two years amid big discounts

Clothing and footwear among items reduced most in July as retailers try to counter bad weather

The UK's biggest retailers have reported the first monthly fall in shop prices for two years, as stores tried to tempt in customers with big discounts during July's unseasonably wet weather.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said shop prices were 0.1% lower in July than in June. Meanwhile its annual shop price inflation rate, compiled with the help of NielsenIQ, declined to its lowest level of the year, sliding to 7.6% last month from 8.4% in June.