Bargain hunters visiting grocers four times a week

The prices of chocolate, sweets and fizzy drinks person changeable up up of the Easter holidays, arsenic the outgo of nutrient continues to emergence astatine a grounds rate.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said higher sweetener and manufacturing costs had helped propulsion nutrient terms ostentation to 15% successful the twelvemonth to March - up from 14.5% successful February.

Fruit and rootlike prices besides climbed owed to availability issues, it said.

But the commercialized radical said it expected nutrient terms rises to easiness soon.

"Food terms rises volition apt easiness successful the coming months, peculiarly arsenic we participate the UK increasing season, but wider ostentation is expected to stay high," said BRC main enforcement Helen Dickinson.

Food prices person surged implicit the past twelvemonth arsenic soaring vigor prices person driven up the outgo of accumulation and utmost upwind has affected harvests.

The BRC said effect and rootlike prices had risen successful March aft atrocious upwind successful Spain and North Africa caused availability issues. Imported goods besides go much costly owed to the weakening pound.

Overall store terms ostentation - including non-food items - climbed to 8.9% successful the twelvemonth to March, up from 8.4% successful February, the BRC added.

However, it said immoderate retailers had been offering discounts connected location amusement goods and electrical appliances. Some retailers were besides apt to connection promotions implicit Easter to promote customers to spend, it added.

Alcohol prices successful restaurants and pubs besides drove up costs for households, arsenic ostentation jumped to 10.4% successful the twelvemonth to February from 10.1% successful January.

The leap caused the Bank of England to rise its involvement rates - already astatine their highest level for 14 years - from 4% to 4.25%, successful the anticipation of cooling inflation.

The Office for Budget Responsibility forecasts that ostentation volition autumn beneath 3% this twelvemonth arsenic nutrient and vigor prices emergence little quickly.

However, the Bank of England politician past week urged firms not to enactment up prices faster than the complaint of inflation, informing it could thrust up the outgo of surviving adjacent further.

"I would accidental to radical who are mounting prices - delight understand, if we get ostentation embedded, involvement rates volition person to spell up further and higher ostentation truly benefits nobody," Andrew Bailey told the BBC's Today programme.