London, Apr 24 (IANS): UK retail sales fell a record 5.1 per cent in March as many stores have shut due to the coronavirus lockdown, official figures revealed on Friday.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the steepest sales fall since it started collecting the data in 1996, reports the BBC.

Food and online shopping rose, and alcohol sales jumped by 31 per cent. But clothes sales tumbled by 34 per cent.

Food sales rose a record 11 per cent as households stocked up and restaurants closed.

Online shopping as a proportion of all retail reached a record high of 22 per cent, the ONS said.

"Retailers are in crisis mode as the impact of Covid-19 has obliterated sales to new record-lows," the BBC quoted Richard Lim, chief executive of Retail Economics, as saying.

The data comes amid dire estimates for the performance of the UK economy amid the lockdown.

On Thursday, one of the Bank of England's top policymakers warned that the UK faces its worst economic shock in several hundred years.

As of Friday, the UK has reported 139,246 coronavirus cases with 18,791 deaths.