LONDON (Reuters) -British retailers cut their prices in October, led by the biggest drop for food in almost five years, industry figures showed, offering a bit of relief to households before Halloween as well as the Bank of England and the government.

Overall shop prices fell by 0.3% from September, the first month-on-month drop since March, the British Retail Consortium said on Tuesday.

A monthly 0.4% drop in food prices was the biggest such fall since December 2020, the BRC said.

Compared with October last year, overall shop prices were 1.0% higher after a 1.4% rise in September, the first time that the annual pace of increases has slowed since June.

Annual food price inflation was also cooler at 3.7% compared with October last year, down from 4.2% in September, although fresh food p

See Full Page