John Lewis, the UK department store chain, admitted late on Sunday night that it has suffered another big fall in weekly sales.

The stores giant, a bellwether for the high street, said that takings in the seven days to last Saturday were down 13 per cent on the same period last year.

It was the tenth week in a row that John Lewis has reported a drop in sales and comes after competitors including Marks & Spencer, Debenhams and parts of Sir Philip Green’s Arcadia empire launched a series of "mega-days" - offering disconts of between 20-25 per cent.

But the retailer also reported a glimmer of hope, suggesting there were signs that Christmas had finally arrived on the high street.

Sales in its department stores, whilst being down year on year, were actually up 11.3 per cent on the previous seven days while sales of Christmas lines, such as trees, decorations and advent products, were a key contributor.

Dan Knowles, director of selling operations at the John Lewis Partnership (JLP), which also owns Waitrose, the upmarket supermarket chain, said: “Inevitably, because of the current economic climate, sales are still down on last year. However, this week has shown that Christmas shopping has certainly begun.

“A number of our competitors are now running discount days. Throughout these, John Lewis has maintained its "Never Knowingly Undersold" promise and matched competitors’ prices, even on sale items.”

He said JLP had last week launched an advertising campaign to reassure customers that its Never Knowingly Undersold motto was still in place.

He added: “It remains a value proposition on which the customers can rely.”

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