Weekly sales at John Lewis's flagship London stores lurched downwards once again as shoppers held off on making purchases in the hope prices will keep falling.

The Oxford Street store that usually does well whatever the economic weather saw sales off 12.6%.

Other stores in highly affluent areas also struggled. The Peter Jones branch at Sloane Square was down 18.6%. Cambridge down 26.7%, Bluewater off 15.7% and Kingston down 17.9% continued the trend.

This was part of a wider slump at John Lewis in the week to 15 November when sales across the country fell 14% on average.

This is the worst weekly sales performance in at least a year and suggests that consumers are ignoring the lure of sales in the expectation that stores will be forced to slash prics again before Christmas.

Barry Matheson, the retailer's head of selling development, said: "There can be no getting away from it that last week was a disappointment.

"We are not immune from the reality of the economic crisis that grasps every headline."

Even John Lewis's internet arm is struggling, with sales down 8.8%.

Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and Sir Philip Green's Arcadia clothes empire have all been slashing prices this week in an attempt to lure shoppers.

The John Lewis decline extended the near 10% fall suffered in the previous week.

Waitrose, the supermarket owned by John Lewis, joined the gloom. Its weekly sales fell 4.6%, a performance that suggests even large food retailers may have a tough Christmas.

Retailers hope recent interest rate cuts will filter through to shoppers in time to rescue Christmas. The Bank of England is expected to cut rates again next month perhaps to 2.5%.

A survey of economists this week by Reuters shows most think the recession will last more than a year.