Evidence that shoppers are deserting the high street continued today as John Lewis said that sales in its department stores had fallen by the biggest amount for three years.

Sales plunged 8.3 per cent, the seventh time in eight weeks that John Lewis, one of the star performers on the high street, has reported a fall. Sales fell by 12 per cent in the week after the London tube bombings in 2005.

Even the first day of John Lewis's sale, or clearance event, could not improve last week's figures at the end of what managers have called a challenging seven days.

Sales across the company's 26 department stores are closely watched as a barometer of middle-class spending. However, in the week to 28 June, sales dropped 8.3 per cent to £53 million.

The economic health of the John Lewis Partnership, the employee-owned group, appears to be in the hands of its food arm Waitrose, where sales at the group’s chain of 189 supermarkets increased 3 per cent to £77.1 million. Total Partnership sales, adding department stores and Waitrose together, fell 1.9 per cent to £130.1 million compared with a 7.4 per cent increase seen this time last year.

Bluewater was the worst performing department store, with sales down 24.6 per cent in the week, while sales at Southampton and Peterborough fell by 22 per cent and 21.5 per cent respectively.

The shortfall was driven by a 15.8 per cent slump in sales of electrical and home technology products and a 13 per cent fall in the home category. Fashion sales were, however, up 2.2 per cent.

Excluding new stores at Liverpool and Cambridge only two branches London’s Oxford Street and Knight & Lee and the online operation johnlewis.com were in positive territory. Eighteen branches saw double digit sales declines and of these four saw declines of over 20 per cent.

Phil Hullah, commercial director at John Lewis, said: "Taking a full week's perspective, there is no doubt that trade in our shops proved challenging when compared to exceptional results last year. Overall, Scotland and the north of England fared best, while our out-of-town shops faced the most difficult conditions."

He also blamed "glorious weather across the country and a compelling sporting calender" for a poorer start to the Clearance sale than had been seen last year. "Last year's first day (an all-time record) was always going to be difficult to assail, but not only did the division deliver a huge sterling result, we also recorded more than 20 per cent growth versus our opening day two years ago," Mr Hullah said in an update to staff.

One bright spot was the performance of John Lewis Direct, the company's internet business. The internet sales channel saw its busiest Saturday since launch last weekend, with a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in sales, indicating that even at sales time shoppers prefer to bag bargains from the comfort of their own home.

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