UK food, clothes and electricals see biggest price falls in nearly nine years

BRC-Neilsen index finds shop prices 2.1% lower in March than a year ago, and predicts that shoppers will buy more due to incomes growing in real terms

British shoppers have enjoyed the biggest falls in the price of food, clothing and electrical goods for almost nine years, as supermarkets fight for customers and the global slump in oil prices continues to feed through to the high street.

Prices in UK shops were 2.1% lower in March compared with a year ago, the biggest annual decline since the British Retail Consortium-Nielsen price index began in 2006.

Related: UK inflation hits zero for the first time on record