LONDON:Shop prices in Britain surged last month at the fastest rate in more than a decade and worse is to come, according to a survey published on Wednesday that spelt further bad news for many households caught in a worsening cost-of-living crisis.

       The British Retail Consortium said prices in store chains rose by an annual 2.7% in April, accelerating from a 2.1% rise in the 12 months to March and marking the highest rate since September 2011.

       "The impact of rising energy prices and the conflict in Ukraine continued to feed through into April's retail prices," said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

       "Non-food products, particularly furniture, electricals and books, have seen the highest rate of inflation since records began," Dickinson added, citing new supply disruption from China which has enacted more COVID-19 lockdowns recently.

       Food prices rose by 3.5% year-on-year, the biggest rise in just over nine years.

       The BRC's gauge of inflation covers store prices and is not comparable with Britain's official consumer prices index, a broader gauge of inflation that includes household bills. It hit a 30-year high of 7% in March. - Reuters