Tesco shows no sign of letting its dominance of the supermarket sector slip after unveiling strong sales figures for the autumn period.

The group, which owns a number of large supermarkets and smaller Express stores across Sussex, said total sales in the UK grew by 12.3 per cent in the 14 weeks to November 20, helped by like-for-like growth of 9.8 per cent and a 2.5 per cent boost from new stores.

With at least £150 million of price cuts made so far this financial year, Tesco added that its stores had seen deflation for a second successive quarter.

Yesterday's performance comes two months after the Hertfordshire-based group beat market expectations with a 24 per cent rise in half-year profits to £822 million.

Strong growth in non-grocery areas such as clothing and DVDs helped those interim results.

Petrol volumes also grew "exceptionally strongly".

After the news the share price rose four per cent to a record high of 310p.