WARMER weather in October and November may have partly prompted the High Street sales this Christmas.

Discounts are being widely offered, fuelling speculation that stores are ramping up their bid to draw back shoppers wary of festive spending.

PricewaterhouseCoopers sent staff out to shopping areas in Newcastle, Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool to hunt for promotions in chain stores such as Topshop, River Island, Marks and Spencer and Waterstones. The study of 100 retailers found 54% were advertising promotions in shop windows, up from 51% in 2010 and 43% in 2009. Discounts on average were 39% off, compared to 31% in 2010.

When the financial crisis hit in 2008, 62% of retailers discounted and money off rose to 40%.

North East retail partner Randal Casson said the sales were an attempt to “kickstart Christmas”.

He said: “There’s always a battle between retailers and consumers, and we’re seeing evidence that the retailers have lost their nerve first.”

Mintel Group’s director of retail research Richard Perks said he expected retails sales growth of around 4% to 5% in actual value terms and a rise of zero to 1% in volume terms.

“You’ve really no longer got a single autumn and winter season in fashion terms. You’ve probably got about three, and the warm period really hit the middle period hard. They have to clear that out before they get the Christmas merchandise in.

“Retail sales have generally been pretty strong, but I think that’s mostly been boosted by food sales. In order to pay for the inflation on food prices, people are cutting costs elsewhere.

“You’re going to get very good results from retailers that are doing it right. But in bad times consumers don’t give second best the benefit of the doubt, and for weak retailers on the edge it might not be a good Christmas or New Year.”