Outdoor living at John Lewis had its best sales week for more than two years for the week ending May 29, according to the retailer's weekly sales report.
This comes after garden retailers reported exceptionally strong sales of outdoor living items, such as barbecues and garden furniture, at the HTA Council meeting last week.

It was also a good week for home at John Lewis, which saw sales up 24% compared to the same week last year. The category had one of the strongest Saturday performances of the year, while fitted furniture also did well at both ends of the price spectrum, with entry prices up more than 300%.

White goods also put in a strong performance, with both large and small electrical products delivering double-digit year-on-year growth, driven by laundry and cooling products.

John Lewis' total sales increased 25% on last year, with inclement weather encouraging strong footfall across the retailer's entire offer.

Merchandise director Jill Little said: "This week has started strongly and we look set fair to achieve another impressive increase on budget. With half term upon us, we have great opportunity to continue our current trading success."