Prices on the high street are still falling, despite the panic caused by the “Marmitegate” pricing battle, the British Retail Consortium has said.

Although there is concern that the price of food and other goods is set to be ravaged by inflation, the latest industry data show the exact opposite, with no sign yet of any damage to consumers’ wallets.

Shop prices fell 1.7pc in October against the same month of 2015, the BRC-Nielsen index showed, barely changed from the 1.8pc drop in September.

Food prices fell 1.2pc in the 12 months to October, led by a very sharp 2pc drop in fresh food costs.

The evidence shows that a supermarket price battle has particularly contributed to falling prices, with the biggest grocers competing hard to defend their market share from the challengers, led by Aldi and Lidl.