Traders are facing a bleak Christmas as consumer confidence appears to be at its lowest for several years.

The Brighton and Hove Economic Partnership has warned retailers to "batten down the hatches" in the next few weeks as figures from accountants KPMG revealed last month was their worst of the year.

This is despite the fact that traditionally October half-term signals the start of Christmas shopping.

At the same time, Experian, a consumer confidence index, shows a decline across almost the whole country, with levels at their lowest in the South East.

The feel-bad factor has been blamed on higher interest rates, the downturn in the housing market, higher petrol costs and talk of more taxes to cover the Government's projected spending deficit.

Data released by online polling organisation YouGov on behalf of KPMG, showed 57 per cent of shoppers have so far spent less than £100 on Christmas-related items and 41 per cent intend to do their present buying no earlier than the week before the big day.

Helen Dickinson, head of retail at KPMG, said: "Every year retailers hope that they may be able to convince shoppers to start their Christmas shopping early but it looks like they've not managed it this year - just when they needed it most. The poor sales figures have demonstrated how much the retail sector needs a good Christmas trading period.

"They may well still get it but it looks like they will have to endure the usual nervy few weeks, waiting for that big final spending spree which inevitably comes as late as possible."

Tony Mernagh, executive director of the partnership, does not share this optimism and feels the current climate will be especially hard for Brighton and Hove's many small, independent shops.

He said: "People always leave their Christmas shopping late but I think sales this year will be very disappointing.

"Unfortunately, the people most affected by a bad Christmas are in the independent sector and they have already had a bad year."

Mr Mernagh added that poor Christmas profits will mean smaller retailers will struggle to meet the rising cost of business rates in Brighton and Hove, which are expected to leap 12.5 per cent next April.

He said: "Even the big names, like WH Smith, French Connection and Sainsbury's, are struggling, so you can imagine how bad it is for small traders who cannot count on large cash reserves.

"Traders now need to look at how they can minimise their overheads as much as possible."