Sales of large big-ticket appliancesfall as households rein in spending

Research out today shows that spending on durable consumer products such as white goods has fallen, amid fears that the recent credit crunch is starting to affect the high street.

The data, from consultancy GfK, shows the growing effect of interest rate rises and market uncertainty has added to consumer fears about spending heavily on big- ticket items.

GfK said sales growth in the consumer durables market was just 1 per cent in September compared with the same month last year. That followed a rise of only 0.7 per cent in August. It is the first time that the market has grown by less than 2 per cent in consecutive months since 2005.

The downturn has been most noticeable in major domestic appliances, which have shown negative growth of 4 per cent over the past three months.