West End stores today shrugged off figures showing a sharp slowdown in the overall sales growth at London's shops last month.

The London Retail Consortium figures said annual sales growth in central London fell from between 5% and 6.5% in the first months of the year to just 1.6% last month.

The figures also showed the number of shoppers was slightly below the levels of last year, but the LRC pointed out that May 2008 was unusually sunny. It added that while tourists were still being attracted by the relatively weak pound, they were spending less in the shops.

However, the New West End Company, which represents retailers in Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, said sales were up 2.7% over May 2008.

Much of the boost was due to a record Whitsun May Bank Holiday weekend, when a million shoppers descended on the area, lured by a day of pedestrianising Oxford Street. Footfall was 14.8% up on the same time last year.

The figures were a marked improvement over the first two weeks of the month, when visitor numbers showed a year-on-year drop of around 11%.

Over the whole month, footfall was down 3.6%.

Chanel de Kock, spokesperson at clothing stores group Brooks Brothers, said: "Increasing numbers of tourists with the current exchange rate are boosting sales, and there is a certain buzz developing again among retailers."