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Woolworths has announced its chief executive, Trevor Bish-Jones, is stepping down amid falling sales at the retailer.

Like-for-like sales were down 2.2 per cent for the 19 weeks to June 14th, while total sales fell 1.9 per cent.

The retailer said the decline was in line with expectations and reflects the active promotion of higher-ticket electrical items.

The decline is a slight improvement from a 3.2 per cent fall in the year to February. Woolworths has struggled in a slowing high street retail environment and a competitive entertainment sector.

Chairman Richard North said: "It has been agreed between the board and Trevor that this is an appropriate time to seek new leadership for the business.

"The search for his successor is underway but in the meantime we are pleased that he has agreed to stay on for the next three months to ensure continuity."

In addition, Woolworths said it has sold four of its London stores to Waitrose, the John Lewis-owned grocer.

Mr North said: "Going forward, we remain cautious about the consumer economy as we believe that the spending power of many consumers will be reduced by a number of factors including rising energy and food prices.

"This underlines the importance of the work we are doing to improve our value credentials."

Woolworths will focus on keeping down prices in order to attract consumers looking for value in the credit squeeze, the retailer said.

Although this strategy has already led to higher-than-expected sales volumes on these products, the aggressive discounting will affect margins, Woolworths warned.

Shares in Woolworths fell 6.65 per cent in early trading on the London Stock Exchange to 9.13p.