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UK retail sales rose unexpectedly in August, adding to the view that consumer spending has yet to be hit by a series of past interest rate rises.

Sales grew by 0.6 per cent last month, increasing by more than analysts had predicted and following a 0.7 per cent rise in July.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the annual rise in sales stood at 4.9 per cent in August, the strongest pace recorded since March.

The figures show that the increase was boosted by a 1.3 per cent rise in food sales, the highest level of growth recorded for the sector since June 2006.

Meanwhile clothing and footwear sales climbed by 1.6 per cent, as sales of household goods fell back 2.5 per cent.

The ONS stats show that the average weekly value of sales in August was £4.9 billion, 3.8 per cent higher than in the same month of the previous year.

However analysts warned that the growth in retail sales had been boosted by a second successive month of heavy discounting, thus indicating that businesses felt compelled to offer shoppers more incentives to spend money.

"We suspect that consumer spending will soften over the coming months as higher interest rates increasingly feed through to weigh down on consumers in tandem with muted real disposable income growth, and increased debt levels," warned Global Insight chief economist Howard Archer.

"On top of this there is now the very real risk that consumer confidence could be hit markedly by the Northern Rock crisis and increased worries about the general economic outlook, leading consumers to further rein in their expenditure," he added, referring to the Bank of England's recent decision to loan the mortgage provider emergency funding.